Miami Herald
One of the last green spaces in Brickell could disappear, so what’s planned in its place?
Allen Morris Brickell Park is a leafy oasis on a fraction of a city block. The quarter-acre park is one of the few green spaces remaining in the bustling heart of Miami’s financial district. Over the years, the park’s canopy of palm, banyan and black...
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Start of new school year in Miami-Dade brings
Thursday marked a new school year for Miami-Dade public-school students, but for some, it also meant stepping into a school unlike any they had known before. At Miami Springs Preparatory Academy 6-12, a new crop of middle-school students has to...
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Staging Miami
A sprawling, newly built mansion on a leafy residential street in Pinecrest had been on the market for several months. The home, listed at around $16 million and built by local developer Fouad Kraishan, has massive windows, soaring ceilings and an...
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DEATH TOLL HITS 181 IN COLOMBIA
At least 181 people have been confirmed dead in Colombia’s main cities after a powerful magnitude 7.4 earthquake devastated parts of the country as rescuers raced Tuesday to find survivors beneath collapsed buildings and authorities struggled to...
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‘WE’RE STARTING WELL THIS YEAR’: SCHOOL’S BACK IN BROWARD
Above, crossing guard Latisha Johnson helps first-grader Luana Gabilanes, with her parents Gabriela, right, and Manuel as they cross the street to drop her off for her first day of school on Monday, outside Tropical Elementary in Plantation. Right, the...
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Miami luxury hotels have found their newest VIP —
Check into The Betsy Hotel in Miami Beach and you may be greeted by two resident golden retrievers. The message: Dogs feel seen here. The latest competition in luxury hospitality is no longer just penthouse suites, inhouse Michelin-starred restaurants...
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At this beloved Coral Gables icon, the café is becoming as popular as the books
Summer can be (and has been) a difficult time for restaurants in Miami. With tourists who fled in the spring, ongoing economic uncertainty and the cost of literally everything rising, business can slow to a painful trickle, with the season feeling...
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Broward schools may soon have a new weapon against school shooters: drones
The drones zip through school hallways, buzzing loudly like a swarm of bees. They can shoot puffs of pepper spray, flash dizzying lights and hurl themselves at 60 miles per hour at their target: a school shooter. These non-lethal drones are designed...
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Cuban-born Alfonso Fanjul, who built a sugar empire in Florida, dies in Palm Beach
Alfonso “Alfy” Fanjul Jr., the Cuban-born billionaire who fled Fidel Castro’s revolution, rebuilt his family’s sugar fortune in Florida and helped transform Florida Crystals into one of the nation’s most powerful agribusiness empires, died Monday in...
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Where to dock the superyachts? South Florida developers race to build more boat slips
South Florida’s waterfront development boom is no longer just about luxury condominiums, sprawling waterfront estates and billionaire compounds. Developers, investors and local governments are spending hundreds of millions of dollars expanding marinas...
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UM students are going to get luxury off-campus tower — with a rooftop pool
University of Miami students are bypassing traditional off-campus housing in favor of a new generation of luxury apartments built specifically for college life. The latest entry is SOMI Walk, a 16-story, 173apartment, 673-bed student housing tower...
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Climate change has given this tropical fruit a warm
Marc Ellenby has grown just about every tropical fruit imaginable on his family’s Redland farm since 1980. Avocados. Sapodillas. Longans. Mameys. But there was one tropical fruit he didn’t think could survive here: Breadfruit. Century-old reports from...
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WELCOME TO A NEW SEASON, DOLFANS
The Miami Dolphins held their first day of training camp on Wednesday at Baptist Health Training Complex in Miami Gardens, and it looked a little different than it has in previous years. Above, the defensive lineman and edges practice.
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Medicare patients on alert as deadline nears for UHealth and United
Charlotte Libov, a medical writer in Miami Beach, has always encouraged cancer patients to undergo treatment, if they can, at federally designated comprehensive cancer centers whose doctors are leaders in research and clinical trials and usually offer...
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‘When I had no one, I had them’
At 19, Danitra Grays was grappling with postpartum depression, caring for her newborn daughter, Naiyla, and struggling with anxious thoughts that weighed heavily on her mind. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Natural disasters. Whether her baby was eating...
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CORAL CRISIS
As underwater temperatures continue to soar in South Florida, the coral shuffle has begun. Scientists are eyeing any corals that aren’t tied down and making plans to move them somewhere safe: to deeper waters, to a shaded spot or even to land-based...
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Miami Beach’s plan to revive Washington Avenue:
It’s been a long while since Washington Avenue was a glamorous hotbed of South Beach dining, clubbing and live music. But city efforts to restore its lost vim and vigor have fallen flat. Today, some bright spots aside, the Art Deco District’s historic...
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Miami's Newest Hurricane Protection? INSTA-REEFS
When hurricanes come ashore in Miami, their waves take big bites out of the coastline, chewing up sand and waterfront properties alike. A chunk of concrete sunk off Miami Beach could change that. The University of Miami recently installed the second...
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With $1.6 million in donations, this Fort Lauderdale church is going green — for God
The canal that flows between Fort Lauderdale resident Harry Rozelle’s house and his church is so infested with bacteria that his teenage son, Cruz, was hospitalized after swimming in it three years ago. As he tended to his sick son, who had contracted...
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WHEN IS SUNSET PLACE GETTING DEMOLISHED?
Sunset Place is still there. By now, the zombie South Miami mall that once defined suburban entertainment was supposed to be gone, razed to make way for a dense megadevelopment. The developers, who said in 2025 that they hoped to start demolition in...
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FANS TURN OUT FOR WORLD CUP WATCH PARTY
Top, FIFA fans, a large majority of them supporting Argentina, watch the World Cup final at the Miami Beach bandshell on Sunday. Right, a Spain fan, one of the few at the watch party, raises a flag and cheers. For full coverage of the match, go to
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Underline’s Dadeland to South Miami segment is now open, with these new features
The latest piece of the Underline to open to the public is the end of the trail, even though the project’s not quite done yet. The 1.2-mile stretch, now finished and ready for exploration on foot, by bike or by e-means of transportation, is the...
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CAN AI SMART CARTS MAKE SHOPPING EASIER?
Excuse me, where is the sugar? Some shoppers need GPS to find their way around the neighborhood supermarket. Last week, soup was in Aisle 3. Now, it’s not. And try finding the aspirin to help you deal with your shopping headache. Miami-based Milam’s...
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Inside the makeover of an iconic Miami Beach hotel
On a sweltering summer day in Miami Beach, relief awaits beyond the sidewalk on Collins near 17th. From a nearby bus stop, a wide patio with tables and chairs comes into view. A short and wide staircase gives easy access to a place that once hosted...
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ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ IS NO MORE
The bright blue sign reading “Alligator Alcatraz” outside the silver chain-link gate at DadeCollier Training and Transition Airport has been removed. The airstrip, formerly used to hold immigrants in industrial tents, is now cleared, with only a few...
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UM TRYING TO CURB BOTCHED INJECTABLES Beauty project seeks more training, safeguards
Miami’s the place to be for Botox, BBLs, laser hair removal and other aesthetic procedures. But does the nurse sticking you with a needle actually know what he or she is doing? The University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies wants to...
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As rising seas invade the Everglades, spoonbills are finding new homes
Deep in the Everglades, through the knee-high mud and up, up, up in the trees, tucked into nests made of twigs, are the squawking, flapping and distinctly pink offspring of one of Florida’s most iconic birds: the roseate spoonbill. “You see a bunch of...
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MORE HEAT ADVISORIES AS DUST MOVES IN
Construction worker Juan Araujo hydrates on Wednesday while working in Wynwood as a heat advisory was in effect for most of South Florida. The heat index has hit 105 the past two days, with little or no rain to cool us off. And a plume of Saharan dust...
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As gay bars in Miami disappear,
Willy’s, the only LGBTQ+ bar in Wynwood, achieved a daunting feat in South Florida. Its owners opened a small business in one of Miami’s hottest neighborhoods, built a crowd of regulars, hosted drag shows, DJ sets and watch parties, and even threw a...
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Living aboard is a way of life in Miami-Dade
Christopher Chandler wasn’t born in a hospital — or even a house. Fifty years ago, his parents welcomed him into the world in the small V-berth of their sailboat in the San Diego Bay. It even says so on his birth certificate. Ever since, the water has...
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‘WE RESCUED PEOPLE WITH OUR BARE HANDS’
Miami businesswoman Gisela Rojas was on vacation in Venezuela last month when the first tremors of two massive earthquakes hit the central and northern parts of the country. “The building was moving like a deck of cards,” says Rojas, a real estate...
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Can Miami embrace a July 4 milestone like this family did? ‘A lot has changed’
Natacha Purvis was born in Miami during the nation’s bicentennial. Her arrival 50 years ago wasn’t the only big event for her family. Just 12 hours before, her parents, Haitian-born Gerald and Mireille Delisfort, were naturalized in a July 4, 1976,...
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VENEZUELA QUAKE DEATH TOLL TOPS 2,295
Venezuela’s earthquake catastrophe entered its seventh day Wednesday with the official death toll climbing to 2,295 while a deepening crisis over missing persons, displacements and deteriorating conditions in the hardest-hit areas intensified pressure...
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‘PLEASE HELP US’
Days after back-to-back earthquakes hit the Caribbean coast of Venezuela, desperate family members are digging through the dirt in hopes of rescuing loved ones trapped under buildings. They are still waiting — and pleading — for rescue teams and...
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VENEZUELA’S SOCIALIST REGIME FACES POLITICAL TREMORS AFTER QUAKES
From her home in Miami Beach, Nilka Simosa Verde thought the hardest part would be accepting that her missing relatives in Venezuela might be dead. She did not expect that even recovering their bodies could become a nightmare. For days, she has made...
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DO YOU FEEL UNSAFE WALKING IN MIAMI?
Walking in Miami shouldn’t feel like an extreme sport, but the numbers tell a different story. According to a new report that tracks pedestrian deaths across the nation, the Miami metro area, which includes Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, ranked...
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‘A TRUE TRAGEDY’
The death toll from the powerful double earthquake that struck Venezuela’s Caribbean coast on Wednesday has climbed to at least 188 people, with more than 1,520 injured, as rescue crews continue searching through collapsed buildings amid growing fears...
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‘LOVE IS ENDURING’
Five years ago, Raquel Oliveira had just celebrated her son Lorenzo’s fifth birthday. She hosted dozens of children at her home at the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, unaware that the condominium was beginning to fail. Wednesday marked five years...
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Jury finds Pino not guilty in fatal boat crash
A jury on Monday night found George Pino not guilty of felony charges stemming from his boat crash that killed a teenage girl, a verdict that Pino’s supporters celebrated while the girl’s family decried for not holding Doral real estate broker...
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TEAM SPIRIT, TARTAN ARMY STYLE
Connor Jardine, left, plays the bagpipes while others sing along during Monday’s gathering of Scottish National Football fans at Ball & Chain in Little Havana. Afterward, the Tartan Army revelers were planning a parade down Calle Ocho to loanDepot Park...
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BEYOND FISHING AND TIKI BARS
Richard Hatch had never thought of his Key West restaurant Blue Heaven as a Michelin Guide sort of restaurant. Its colorful history alone would seem to exclude any notice from the famous culinary guide (boxing, gambling, cockfighting, all accomplished...
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‘Freedom is worth celebrating’
Barbara Williamson learned about Juneteenth from her grandfather who told her of the holiday’s history when she was a little girl living in Boca Raton. Since then, Williamson, 85, has celebrated the holiday instead of Fourth of July, often holding a...
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STEP UP IN HAITI
United Nations SecretaryGeneral António Guterres arrived in Haiti on Tuesday wanting to deliver a message of reassurance to the Haitian people amid surging gang violence, rising displacement and deepening hunger. Hope was on the way, he said, as he...
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After $12 million renovation, Overtown community sues contractors over leaks, mold
In Miami’s Overtown neighborhood, a small Section 8 housing community of 17 buildings stands out for its bright blue facades. Children play outside, and neighbors know one another by name. But the low-income community has been plagued by water damage,...
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MIAMI’S WORLD CUP SAGA BEGINS
Top, soccer fans rush through the Miami Stadium gates to attend Monday’s Uruguay-Saudi Arabia FIFA World Cup opening-round match, the first of several to be played at the Miami Gardens stadium. Right, Christopher Noria’s flag is examined by security on...
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Affordable housing replacing public housing as developers address Miami shortage
Miami-Dade has a shortage of affordable housing — and the land to build it on. Bounded by Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Everglades to the west, the county doesn’t have much space for the estimated 90,000 new units needed to...
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Haiti to debut redesigned World Cup jersey after FIFA rejects initial design as ‘political’
Once more Haiti’s efforts to express its national identity and fighting spirit on the global stage have run into resistance from an international sports governing body. Months after qualifying for its first FIFA World Cup in more than 50 years, Haiti’s...
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‘It’s overwhelming’
The lines outside Curley’s House Hope Relief Food Bank in Allapattah have never been longer. After 30 years of feeding Miami residents in need, Lavern Spicer, founder and executive director for Curley’s House, says demand for food assistance has...
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Miami-Dade, Coral Gables crack down on fraudulent disability parking permits
As a parking enforcement officer peered into the windshield of a black Chevrolet Camaro parked along Miracle Mile on a recent weekday, he noticed that the handicapped permit information didn’t match the expiration of the car’s registration. He called...
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3D-PRINTED BONES?
Inside the University of Miami’s newly opened 3Dbioprinting lab, the future of medicine looks a lot like science fiction. Think minuscule robotic devices that repair the body. Molecules designed to hunt down cancer cells. And a printer capable of...
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How a tiny police force in Miami-Dade posted big immigration arrest numbers
Miami Springs is often described as a quiet suburb of Miami, with some 13,000 residents, tree-lined streets, mid-century homes and small-town charm. Yet the tiny municipality has emerged as one of Florida’s most active participants in immigration...
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‘He is Columbus’ The Shark is retiring — and students say he made them leaders
Christopher Columbus High School without The Shark? Brother Kevin coached future University of Miami and Florida International University basketball coaches when they were teenagers. He guided future U.S. politicians, Miami business leaders,...
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HURRICANE SEASON IS HERE, AND THE WORLD CUP IS COMING
As hundreds of thousands of soccer fans prepare to travel to South Florida for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, officials are warning visitors to watch out for more than ticket scams. Monday marks the start of the Atlantic hurricane season, and National...
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Haitians gather to meet Haiti National Team soccer stars ahead of World Cup
Miami-Dade’s Saturday rain showers could not damper the spirit and energy of dozens of Haitians, Haitian Americans and soccer fans crowded together waving flags, beaming expectantly at North Miami’s Moca Plaza to meet players on the Haitian National...
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‘People have lost everything’
With evictions looming for approximately 200 families living at a Miami trailer park, dozens gathered Wednesday to stage a protest outside City Commissioner Ralph Rosado’s office in the hopes that the city might intervene — or at least help buy them...
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‘Nickel and dimed’
Restaurant bills don’t look the way they used to. Not so long ago, you’d glance at the bill and see the cost of your meal and a blank line to leave a tip. Restaurants in some touristy neighborhoods like Miami Beach might slap on a tip of their own for...
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Mother blames health groups’ dispute for daughter’s $11,500 ER bill
Go to the nearest ER first, figure out billing later. That’s often the advice that people hear when it comes to potential medical emergencies. A federal law requires health insurers to cover care for medical emergencies at in-network rates, including...
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HONORING THE FALLEN
Nearly 150 people showed up at the Miami Beach Police Headquarters on Monday morning to pay respects to active, retired and fallen members of the Armed Forces. During the event, a moment of silence was held in honor of those who have died, and a 21-gun...
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Clubs face Tropical Park sticker shock. County rents soar under private operator
Putting on a weekend dog show at Tropical Park’s Equestrian Center used to cost the South Dade Kennel Club less than $3,000, but that was before Miami-Dade County hired a private events company to run the place. Earlier this year, volunteer club...
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After more than 20 years, Venezuela’s longest-serving political prisoners are freed
Three police officers, accused more than 20 years ago of conspiring against the government of the late President Hugo Chávez, have been released in Venezuela along with dozens of other political prisoners amid promises from authorities that some 300...
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U.S. CHARGES RAÚL CASTRO WITH MURDER
Cuban Americans in South Florida celebrated the federal indictment Wednesday of Cuban leader Raúl Castro as a long overdue reckoning for his alleged role in the 1996 killing of four Cuban American men — a shoot-down over the Florida Straits that has...
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School pride: Booker T. students surprised
Deafening screams filled the auditorium at Booker T. Washington Senior High School on Tuesday as two students received a big surprise. Seniors Patricia Smith and Yaz’Nique Jean Francois stepped up on stage, each the winner of a $30,000 college...
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‘PEOPLE NEEDED THIS’
Christina Brown was stressed out in 2019. Her baby son Sean died after birth. She divorced her wife shortly after. After those experiences, Brown, who lived in Atlanta at the time, went to a rage room in Las Vegas and broke things. “I thought about...
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‘That could have been my story’
The recent news reports of Black women being killed by their partners has brought back a flood of memories for Cindy Doucet. The Miami radio personality, known for years to 99 Jamz listeners as SupaCindy, knows how hard it is to leave an abusive...
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Weight loss drug use has skyrocketed.
When she was approached to create the menu for Cerveceria La Tropical a few years back, chef Cindy Hutson knew what CEO Manny Portuondo wanted to serve: Cuban food that would effortlessly complement the tap room offerings. The Wynwood brewery was...
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TRUMP IN CHINA FOR SUMMIT
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing for the first state visit to China by a U.S. leader in nine years, as the world’s two largest economies look to stabilize ties with a summit playing out against the backdrop of the Iran war. Trump...
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How Spirit’s collapse changed the economy — and lives. ‘Back to ramen noodles’
Like much of the world, Donald “Dean” Zoellers learned of Spirit Airlines’ demise on the morning of May 2. He was hit hard, certainly more than travelers who loved the Broward-based carrier’s low prices or bright yellow planes. The 63-yearold...
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BUILDING BOOM
Ten years ago, a master plan was unveiled to reimagine North Beach, the most affordable, least gentrified slice of Miami Beach that stretches from 63rd Street to 87th Terrace. Now, the neighborhood’s transformation is entering top gear. Numerous...
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Neighbors’ complaints stall county’s plan for Coconut Grove Playhouse —
Even as work crews ready the storied Coconut Grove Playhouse’s gutted front building for restoration, a group of neighbors who have been fighting a plan to reopen the historic 1927 theater for years have gotten it blocked once again. A Miami-Dade...
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HistoryMiami rebrands as Museum of Miami,
Ana of Coral Gables recalled when a reporter wrote about her father, a Cuban political prisoner. The next day, her restaurant was full of former political prisoners. Adrian of Coconut Grove has a trilingual mother and a monolingual father. He...
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20 years after opening,
Twenty years after it opened, the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts is embarking on a major production that’s long been high on its patrons’ wishlist: building a dedicated parking garage at its front door. The Arsht said Monday it has submitted a...
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Pulitzer Prizes honor Miami Herald’s Julie K. Brown and Brightline investigation
Miami Herald investigative reporter Julie K. Brown on Monday was honored by the Pulitzer Prize Board for her groundbreaking and impactful investigation into sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and the people and institutions that enabled him to abuse girls...
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‘OUR LIVES HANG IN THE BALANCE’
This story was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Coral Gables on Friday, marching with MiamiDade plant nursery workers as they fight for safer working conditions. Led by workers’ rights...
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GETTING ALL REVVED UP
Formula 1 is back in town with the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix taking place this weekend. On Wednesday, preparations were under way for the Miami International Autodrome at Hard Rock Stadium. Above, a view of the Grand Prix first-place...
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‘GAME CHANGER’
Ozzie Echemendia’s “second chance of life” came in the form of a wire that runs from his brain all the way to his upper chest. Echemendia is in a battle with Parkinson’s disease, a movement disorder that affects the nervous system and usually worsens...
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