Miami Herald
A ROARING SENDOFF
A towering orange-andwhite NASA rocket blasted off from Florida, lifting four astronauts toward space and transporting spectators’ imaginations to a future in which Americans might again set foot on the moon. As they did during the heyday of the...
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‘I have got the greatest gift’
After nearly seven years, Chevon Byfield finally found his perfect match: a large, and strong, beating heart. “I feel like, even right now, it still hasn’t hit me yet,” the dad of two told the Miami Herald during a recent FaceTime call from his...
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Trump releases first renderings of massive Miami high-rise presidential library
President Donald Trump’s foundation released a teaser video for his proposed presidential library in downtown Miami, revealing plans for a skyscraper with a fully capitalized TRUMP emblazoned atop, a presidential jet in the lobby, an amphitheater where...
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Miami Beach’s Holocaust Memorial expands, offering new way to talk to survivors
Most Miami Beach residents and visitors have likely seen the giant bronze sculpture of an outstretched arm reaching to the sky as hundreds of small human figures cling to it and each other with expressions of agony. Since the Holocaust Memorial opened...
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BELIEVERS GATHER FOR PALM SUNDAY
Above, Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski, center, processes past the crowd toward the cathedral after the traditional blessing of the palms before Palm Sunday Mass on Sunday at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Miami. “It is easy for us to say we would’ve done...
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South Beach hotel hyped by Pharrell Williams, David Grutman now facing foreclosure
Five years after its much-hyped South Beach debut featuring celebrity frontman Pharrell Williams, The Goodtime Hotel is in bad trouble. A California real estate fund has filed a $150 million foreclosure action against the hotel’s owners in MiamiDade...
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From exile to action: Cuban Americans fill Hialeah park for ‘Cuba Libre’ rally
Longing for a free homeland, hope for change and a deep love for Cuba drew thousands to the streets of Hialeah, where chants of “Libertad” echoed through the city during a “Cuba Libre” rally Tuesday evening. The gathering at Milander Field was part...
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Rubio testifies he was ‘unaware’ of Rivera’s $50M deal with Venezuelan subsidiary
Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified Tuesday at the Miami federal trial of former Congressman David Rivera that he never would have talked with his friend about his plan for democratic elections in Venezuela if he had known that Rivera had signed a...
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Red Rooster restaurant is a crown jewel of Black Miami
In 2020, restaurateur and real estate developer Derek Fleming was excited. He planned a big party to celebrate the opening of Red Rooster, the Miami version of a popular Harlem, New York, restaurant. Patrons could see gorgeous Black art and taste...
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WHERE’S THE PARTY?
Christa Moore, 19, left, a student from Southern Union State Community College, and Kaliah Ridley, 21, from the University of Cincinnati, take a selfie as they visit South Beach during spring break on Saturday in Miami Beach. Spring break crowds have...
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GAME, SET, SUNSHINE AT THE MIAMI OPEN
Maddox Tran, 15, leans back and squints while watching on the jumbo screen several of the matches as the sun finally made its appearance after two rainy days at the Miami Open on Thursday in Miami Gardens. The tournament runs through next weekend at...
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ON TOP OF THE WORLD
Venezuela third baseman Maikel Garcia celebrates with teammates after Venezuela rallied in the ninth inning to defeat the United States at a packed loanDepot park in the final game of the 2026 World Baseball Classic on Tuesday. It was an emotional win...
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WIDESPREAD BLACKOUT IN CUBA
A street vendor attends to customers during a blackout in Havana on Monday. Cuba’s national power grid collapsed Monday, leaving nearly the entire country without electricity and compounding an already severe economic and social crisis. The outage left...
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U.S. citizen has fought seven months to free husband; ICE claims ‘flight risk’
Angela Della Valle has been crisscrossing the country since August, fighting for the release of her husband of 23 years from immigration detention. In Florida alone, he was transferred about a dozen times to various immigration detention centers,...
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RAIN CAN’T STOP CALLE OCHO
Mia Cruz and Zoe Diaz bubble around during Calle Ocho Festival on Sunday in Little Havana. The annual event is the largest Latin music festival in the nation and is put on by Carnaval Miami.
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Exiled Iranian women in South Florida push for change amid ongoing war
Sandra Madjdi spent years of her childhood in hiding. Madjdi, who was born in Tehran, fled Iran in 1979 with her family out of fear of retaliation from the Islamic regime. Her grandfather was a diplomat and congressman with ties to the Shah. After...
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BAM’S 83-POINT EXPLOSION
Heat teammates congratulate center Bam Adebayo on Tuesday night after he scored 83 points in a 150-129 victory over Washington at Kaseya Center in Miami. His total was the most in an NBA game since Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 for the Philadelphia...
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Coral Gables vacates iconic City Hall for full restoration
After 98 years, the roof, walls and windows are leaking at Coral Gables’ historic City Hall, one of South Florida’s most prominent civic and architectural landmarks. The building’s limestone and stucco exterior and concrete decorative bits are badly...
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WHAT LESSONS CAN DOLPHINS TAKE FROM TUA’S DISAPPOINTING TENURE?
The “Tank for Tua” era — or error — was rooted in failure from the very start, and that’s exactly how Tua Tagovailoa’s tenure as the Miami Dolphins’ starting quarterback should be remembered. One misstep after another, an avalanche of miscalculations,...
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GROUPS DEMAND REPATRIATION
Niurka Prestamo, friend of a detainee, reacts during a Proof of Life of Our Brothers ceremony at the Bay of Pigs Monument in the Little Havana area of Miami. Cuban dissident groups held a press conference on Sunday to demand repatriation of the bodies...
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Miami Jewish and Muslim
Plates of challah bread and bowls of dates sat in the center of each table. Manischewitz wine — a staple of Shabbat — was replaced with grape juice to accommodate those who don’t drink alcohol. Faith leaders of various religions gathered around the...
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THIS NEW MIAMI BUILDING IS INNOVATIVE, COMPACT AND PEACH
The first sign that there’s something unusual about the newly opened building in the heart of Miami’s Overtown is its color — a deep shade of peach, inspired by a bit of neighborhood soda-pop history. The second is its simple yet sophisticated modern...
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Scamming the faithful
When a man named Sergio messaged Pastor Jennifer LeClaire insisting she had promised him a personal phone call and prophetic counseling, she assumed it was a misunderstanding. Though he was an avid follower of the South Florida pastor’s morning...
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‘We’re not waiting’
Miami is still a long way from fixing its traffic and public transportation woes, but there may be a credible solution on the horizon — electric flying taxis. Companies around the world are racing to bring this technology to market, and many of them...
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‘Grateful’
A steady stream of Haitians with Temporary Protected Status poured into a Broward County library parking lot Wednesday morning, not for books but for a much-needed lifeline: the chance to renew their driver’s licenses. After a federal judge ruled that...
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‘I feel so proud.’ Miami-Dade County crowns new spelling bee champion
Logan Cox had never even heard of the word that would crown him champion of the Miami Herald Spelling Bee for Miami-Dade County. Drawing on his experience — and knowledge of word etymology — Logan powered through the final round on Wednesday like a...
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HOW JEFFREY EPSTEIN SOUGHT TO INFILTRATE THE JUSTICE SYSTEM
Jeffrey Epstein didn’t beat the justice system by accident. For decades, the New York financier curated a network of influential people — politicians, business titans, media figures and academics — whom he leveraged to build his fortune and restore...
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‘Spring break of the past is gone’
Miami Beach leaders gathered Tuesday to send a unified message about the upcoming spring break season: yes, the city is relaxing some of its strictest rules and restrictions from recent years, but no, the party is not back on. Speaking at Miami Beach...
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‘So excited to be back’
They walked into the international arrivals area of Miami International Airport on Monday afternoon in various Team USA gear — some in gray or blue hoodies or jackets, others in red Tshirts. The one piece of their outfits in common: the gold medal...
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MILAN A WIN FOR USA
Florida Panthers forward Mackie Samoskevich hadn’t missed a minute of the men’s hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics. And neither he nor the rest of his Panthers teammates were going to miss the finale Sunday, even if they had a practice...
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Ken Griffin donates $3M to Ronald McDonald House in Miami. How it helps patients
A $3 million donation from billionaire philanthropist and Citadel CEO Ken Griffin has put the Ronald McDonald House Charities of South Florida one step closer to opening a multimillion-dollar complex that will provide free temporary lodging to hundreds...
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ASH WEDNESDAY WORSHIP
A woman prays after receiving ashes on her forehead during Ash Wednesday Mass on Wednesday at Gesu Catholic Church in downtown Miami. The Mass was fully packed with worshippers standing in the back of the church.
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Cardboard coffins, rotting garbage, end of surgeries: Images of Cuba’s humanitarian crisis
In Velasco, a town in the eastern Cuban province of Holguín, a man was buried in a cardboard box, his body carted on a wheelbarrow to the cemetery because of a lack of wooden coffins and fuel. In the capital city of Holguín, residents are cooking with...
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Fired BSO deputies after Tamarac triple murder want job back — with back pay
Days after Mary Catherine Gingles was hunted down and shot to death by her estranged husband, Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony vowed to “send the fear of God” to his deputies for a cascade of failures that led to the death of her, her father and a...
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SUNSHINE AND SUPERYACHTS
The Miami International Boat Show kicked off Thursday afternoon and runs through Sunday in Miami Beach. Above, an aerial view at Sailors Cove along the MacArthur Causeway on Thursday. At right, Jake Nazarian and his 8-month-old daughter Natalie tour a...
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Who gives the most political money to Miami-Dade’s mayor and county commissioners?
To raise more than $6 million for their political committees last year, the elected officials running Miami-Dade’s government relied on developers and county vendors for most of their largest contributions. A Miami Herald analysis of more than 1,500...
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Staying true to a vision
A few years ago, Linda Udell Zakheim, owner of Jaxson’s Ice Cream Parlor & Restaurant, was doing some cleaning in the restaurant’s second dining room. As she wiped down surfaces and some of the old-fashioned, kitschy decor that defines the Dania Beach...
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Bad Bunny’s halftime show reminds the world ‘America’ is more than just the U.S.
Fans and critics expected Bad Bunny to make a major political statement at the Super Bowl halftime show. With a pan-American parade of flags, he met those expectations. Just a week after his “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” became the first Spanish-language...
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Why this dad has waited longer than any other patient for a new heart at Broward hospital
Doctors told Chevon Byfield that he had only a few months to live. His heart would give out by Thanksgiving. But 10 years later, Byfield is still alive, waiting for an organ donor. His failing heart beats with the help of an LVAD, a device that helps...
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Four Miami Beach commissioners didn’t attend the mayor’s State of the City address
Four Miami Beach city commissioners did not attend Mayor Steven Meiner’s State of the City address Wednesday, noticeable absences at an event that often brings shows of unity and support for the mayor. The four commissioners missing from the mayoral...
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Call about a shooter at Columbus High is false, but panics kids, parents, school
A false call about a person with a gun on the campus of Christopher Columbus High led to Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies swarming the school Wednesday morning, administrators locking down the classrooms and anguished parents, blocked by a fence,...
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Federal judge blocks termination of Haitian TPS, keeps protections from ending Tuesday
In a pointed rebuke of the Trump administration’s push to make hundreds of thousands of Haitian immigrants suddenly deportable from the United States, a federal judge in Washington blocked the Department of Homeland Security on Monday night from ending...
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BUNDLED UP IN SOUTH FLORIDA
Pedestrians walk through the pathway near the HistoryMiami Museum on Monday. With a high of 56 degrees, commuters swapped their usual warm-weather looks for hoodies, sweaters, coats and jackets. Temperatures in South Florida dipped overnight as the...
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HARD TIMES FOR THE COLD-BLOODED
An iguana is seen laying on the ground in a neighborhood in Pembroke Pines on Sunday as South Florida iguana removal companies say they scooped up hundreds of cold-stunned and dead lizards due to the cold snap. How long will the cold last? See more on...
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‘My students are the legacy I get to leave behind’
Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ top educators gathered Wednesday evening as one of them was crowned Teacher of the Year in the annual celebration of the county’s best and most passionate teachers. Roberto Rabelo, a social studies and civics teacher...
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RALLYING TO PROTECT HAITIANS
With Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status designation set to expire on Tuesday, protesters gathered during a candlelight vigil and interfaith prayer at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Wednesday as airport workers and faith leaders to...
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Minnesota judge orders ICE chief to appear in person for defying orders
An angry Minnesota federal judge ordered the Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief to appear in court in person on Friday to explain why the agency has failed to obey “dozens of court orders” stemming from the violent crackdown on immigrants and...
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Miami Holocaust Memorial debuts new technology to keep survivors’ memories alive
Rodi Glass is not convinced that something like the Holocaust will never happen again. Amid the United States’ divisive climate and with global antisemitism on the rise, 90-year-old Holocaust survivor Glass believes that hatred toward Jewish people —...
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RUNNERS PUT IN 26.2 IN THE 305
Above, runners head eastbound on the MacArthur Causeway, running past docked cruise ships at the Elite Life Time Miami Marathon & Half on Sunday. Right, marathon attendees cheer on runners, waving flags and signs and giving words of encouragement, as a...
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A NEW ERA FOR THE MIAMI DOLPHINS
Miami Dolphins Chairman and Managing General Partner Stephen M. Ross, center, introduces the new General Manager Jon-Eric Sullivan, at left, and Head Coach Jeff Hafley, at right, during a press conference at the Baptist Health Training Complex in Miami...
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It’s professor vs. professor as UM, Gables clear way for 1950s dorm demolitions
The University of Miami, widely held to be the first U.S. college campus entirely made up of Modernist buildings, seems set to erase a big chunk of that historic and architectural legacy as it looks to replace the last of its surviving original dorms —...
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‘It’s a dream come true’
Fernando Mendoza’s parents loved watching every single pass their son threw during his Heisman Trophy-winning season. But they often cringed whenever Mendoza tucked the ball away and ran, putting his body at risk. On Monday night, that’s what it took...
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PARTY (HARD) ROCK
Above, JC Mena wears a cafecito helmet as he celebrates during tailgate parties before the College Football Playoff national championship game between the Miami Hurricanes and the Indiana Hoosiers on Monday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. At...
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Lack of affordable child care is a billion-dollar problem for Miami-Dade
A billion-dollar crisis is brewing among Miami-Dade parents with young children — and their employers. Child care costs are draining parents’ wallets and hitting their employers’ bottom lines, according to a new study published by The Women’s Fund...
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‘Hialeah is ready to lead,’
Framing his inauguration as a moment of responsibility rather than celebration, Bryan Calvo was sworn in as mayor of Hialeah on Monday, promising to rebuild trust in local government and guide the city into what he called a defining new era. “For one...
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AFTER FIRING, THE DOLPHINS’ NEXT MOVE NEEDS TO GIVE FANS A REASON TO HOPE
Stephen Ross, the Miami Dolphins’ majority owner since 2009, is now looking for his eighth different head coach in a parade of floundering, flailing and failing. South Florida’s flagship sports franchise — the one once-proud and associated with the...
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‘We are not free; we just changed the regime’s leader’
Two days after Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro was captured by the United States and brought to New York on drug-trafficking charges, Venezuelans in South Florida and around the U.S. are still struggling to process what the moment means. Is...
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MADURO ON DISPLAY
Pedro ‘Marthi’ Martin is photographed on Tuesday in front of his mural in Wynwood of Nicolás Maduro, who was apprehended by the U.S. last weekend. A Venezuelan artist, ‘Marthi,’ painted the mural of Maduro based on the arrest photo circulated by the...
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‘TODAY, WE’RE ALL VENEZUELANS’: In Doral, prayers for peace post-Maduro
On the day after Venezuelans woke up to the news of strongman Nicolás Maduro’s capture by U.S. forces, Venezuelan exiles in Doral, grappling with the uncertainty facing the country, gathered at Our Lady of Guadalupe to pray for the nation’s...
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A LOVELY START TO THE NEW YEAR
Above, Lina Ali and her daughter Nina lounge on the sand in South Beach on Thursday morning, the first day of 2026. Right, other beach-goers enjoy the view, the sun and the cool weather that had highs in the mid-to-upper 60s. Below, Dr. Elsa Orlandini...
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‘I have nothing.’ How a mass eviction left retired, disabled Miamians homeless
On a Sunday evening in December, Angel Rogelio Diaz Franco sprawled on a dingy twin mattress in the van he now calls home. Looking around, he squinted. The sole source of light inside came from a small flashlight, which cast a dull, white glow over a...
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Here’s what to expect in South Florida’s luxury real estate market in 2026
South Florida’s luxury real estate market is crowded and experiencing a slowdown. With a cooler luxury market that’s tipped in favor of buyers, 2026 might be a good time to score a deal, said Zack Simkins, a managing director at Vaster, a lending firm...
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‘BELONGING IN TRANSIT’
Belonging is what everyone seeks — even in transit as people move in search of opportunity and a better life. The recently opened HistoryMiami Museum exhibit “Belonging in Transit” highlights Redland Market Village in Homestead as a vibrant, living...
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‘A python in the water’:
The airboat engine with long metal rods at the front sputtered to a stop as researchers stood ready with long nets off Tamiami Trail. In the afternoon sun, electrodes dipped into the shallow, coffee-colored water and released a mild current, a process...
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New home may not be homey, but it beats homeless shelter for mom and her two sons
The apartment overlooks a gas station lit up like Times Square and the noisy on-ramp of West Okeechobee Road. To the north lies a cement factory; to the south, a diesel truck repair shop; to the west concrete block and brick paver manufacturers. The...
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BRINGING JOY DURING TOUGH TIME
Hospital staffer Lianet Bujosa Giraldino, center, helps Maria Alejandra Mendez, 12, and her father, Gaspar Mendez, pick out toys on Tuesday during the annual Snowpile Toy Store at Holtz Children’s Hospital in Miami. The free, winter-themed shopping...
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Hangs onto her dream
Wilangelys Porrata has always dreamed of becoming an artist. As a child, she drew strikingly colorful cartoons, anime, ghosts and pumpkins. But three years ago, when she was 12, the shy, bespectacled girl from North Miami abruptly stopped. “I really...
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FAMILY SEEKS HELP IN FINDING SHOOTER
Trawonna Barron, left, is comforted by her mother, Mary Brown, Dwight Wells’ mother, after pleading for the public’s help in solving the murder of her son. Dwight Wells, a prominent Liberty City activist, was gunned down in October. The family spoke...
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How this Florida Keys diver and his ‘spare part’ helped a boy needing transplant
Aaron got a lot of surprises for his ninth birthday. He went on his first Disney cruise. And he got a special gift from a Florida Keys scuba diver, one he will carry with him for the rest of his life: a new kidney. Since he was a baby, Aaron has...
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These Miami residents choose to live without cars. It can be a challenge
Driving in Miami-Dade is something that just about everyone will agree is frustrating — with bumperto-bumper traffic jams, last-minute merges and inevitable road rage. Yet many residents would still rather spend nearly three full days a year stuck in...
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‘Everybody is so proud’
The raucous crowd at Vice Pizza in South Miami fell to a hush as the announcement was about to be made. Nearly 200 people with ties to Christopher Columbus High School — alumni, faculty, administrators, families and friends — were on site to watch one...
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How Nobel winner María Corina Machado outsmarted Maduro’s forces to get to Norway
The extraordinary escape of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado from the grip of Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian regime to fly to Norway to receive the Nobel Peace Prize involved months of planning, a stealth journey through 10 military...
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MESSI MAKES HISTORY
Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi receives Major League Soccer’s Landon Donovan MVP Award on Tuesday at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. Messi, who led Inter Miami to the MLS title on Saturday, won the award for the second year in a row, something no other...
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