Tag Archives: Miami Beach

Gay Florida Democratic Candidate Sues His Aunt For Running Against Him With A Soundalike Pseudonym

Florida Politics reports: House District 106 candidate Joe Saunders is suing his aunt for running against him with a pseudonym remarkably similar to his name. Saunders filed a complaint against Maureen Saunders Scott for filing as a no-party candidate in HD 106 under the name “Moe Saunders.” “This is a clear violation of Florida law, and the facts speak for …

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Miami Beach To Spring Breakers: It’s Over Between Us

USA Today reports: Miami Beach is officially “breaking up” with spring break, according to a new PSA released by the city. Framed like, well, a breakup, the ad starts with actors addressing would-be spring breakers. In the one-minute video, spring break is discussed not as the iconic party fest it’s become known as, but rather as a dreaded yearly occurrence …

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Florida Bill Would Allow Razing Of Historic Buildings

The Miami Herald reports: A pair of related bills rapidly advancing through the Florida Legislature would eviscerate protections for historic buildings and districts in coastal areas across the state, allowing property owners and developers to bypass local regulations and bulldoze and redevelop much of Miami Beach, among many other places. That would include the iconic Art Deco hotel row on …

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Miami Beach Issues Curfew After Spring Break Violence

Miami’s NBC affiliate reports: The City of Miami Beach has issued a state of emergency and set an 11:59 p.m. curfew after a tumultuous weekend of deadly shootings. The measures come after a man died and another man was injured in a shooting in South Beach Friday night, and another deadly shooting in Miami Beach early Sunday morning. The state …

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Four Men Get Probation In Hate Crime Plea Deal For 2018 Beating Of Gay Couple After Miami Beach Pride

Miami’s NBC affiliate reports: Four men accused of attacking a gay couple after a Miami Beach pride parade back in 2018 have avoided prison time under a plea deal. Juan Carlos Lopez, Luis Alonso, Adonis Diaz and Pablo Figueroa were accused of beating a gay couple and calling them anti-gay slurs after the Pride Parade on South Beach. The four …

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Lawyers Awarded $70M Cut Of Surfside Settlement

The New York Daily News reports: Attorneys with the 17 law firms who brokered the $1.1 billion settlement between Florida’s Champlain Towers and victims of its deadly 2021 collapse were awarded $70 million in fees Monday. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzma expressed satisfaction that the families of the 98 people killed in last summer’s tragedy were “in essence being made …

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Court Okays $1B Settlement In Florida Condo Collapse

NBC News reports: A judge gave final approval Thursday to a settlement topping $1 billion for victims of the collapse of a Florida beachfront condominium building that killed 98 people, one of the deadliest building failures in U.S. history. The decision by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman came a day before the one-year anniversary of the Champlain Towers South disaster …

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Surfside Survivors And Families Reach $1B Settlement

The Miami Herald reports: In a surprisingly swift resolution of the Champlain Towers South class-action lawsuit, relatives of victims and survivors of the Surfside condo collapse have reached a settlement that will pay them nearly $1 billion, a state court judge was told Wednesday. The comprehensive settlement announced in Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Michael Hanzman’s courtroom effectively closes the litigation …

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Miami Beach Declares Emergency Over Spring Break Violence For Second Year: “We Just Can’t Endure This”

The Associated Press reports: City of Miami Beach officials declared a state of emergency on Monday and an upcoming curfew, bidding to curb violent incidents at spring break that saw five people wounded in two separate shootings. Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber and City Manager Alina Hudak announced the emergency order at an afternoon news conference. It includes a curfew …

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Miami Beach Cops Give Stopped Motorists Advice Flier With URL To Store Selling “Fuck Biden” Merchandise

The Miami Herald reports: In Miami Beach, getting pulled over by city police didn’t just mean a ticket for some drivers. Officers also handed them an invitation to check out a website selling Trump 2024 merchandise. A city police flier in circulation until last week explaining how to resolve minor traffic tickets online dropped a crucial hyphen for a Miami-Dade …

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Florida Judge Rejects “Stand Your Ground” Defense In Mob Beating Of Gay Couple After Pride Event [VIDEO]

The Miami Herald reports: Four young men [photo above] did not act in self-defense when they beat up two gay men during a South Beach gay-pride celebration, a Miami judge ruled on Friday. Circuit Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan declined to dismiss the battery charges against Juan Carlos Lopez and three others who’d been charged in the high-profile attack in April …

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Nazi Flyers Appear At Hundreds Of Miami Beach Homes

The Miami Herald reports: South Florida authorities are investigating the origin of anti-Semitic flyers that were distributed overnight in Miami Beach and Surfside neighborhoods, police said Sunday. Miami Beach police increased patrols in neighborhoods and religious institutions following the first report received shortly after 7 a.m., Ernesto Rodriguez, the department’s spokesperson, told Miami Herald via email. The anti-Semitic flyers appear …

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Surfside Families Sue Developer Of Property Next Door

Bloomberg News reports: The catastrophic structural failure that led to the collapse of the Champlain Towers condominium outside Miami in June was linked to construction of a luxury high-rise development next door, according to a lawsuit filed by families of people killed in the disaster. Developers of the Renzo Piano-designed Eighty Seven Park were improperly allowed to build higher and …

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Miami Beach Voters Back Earlier 2AM Last Call At Bars

ABC News reports: Last call could come three hours earlier in Miami Beach, where a majority of voters fed up with nighttime violence chose “Yes” to rolling back the 5 a.m. closing time for alcohol sales. The voter referendum was held Tuesday in response to increasingly raucous crowds and public drinking in the South Beach entertainment district, where tension has …

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Trump Developer Bids $120 Million For Surfside Lot

The Miami Herald reports: In the rubble of one of the deadliest building failures in modern history, Hussain Sajwani sees opportunity — a prime beachfront property that could become home to the billionaire Middle East developer’s first project on American soil. Sajwani, a friend and business partner of Donald Trump known for flashy towers in his native Dubai, has visions …

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“Double Suicide” In Versace’s South Beach Mansion

NBC News reports: Two men apparently killed themselves, police said, in a suite at the Miami Beach hotel that Gianni Versace turned into his mansion, nearly 24 years to the day before the fashion designer died on the building’s front steps. Their bodies were found by housekeeping on Wednesday, the eve of the anniversary of Versace’s slaying by a suspected …

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NYT Finds Lax Enforcement Of FL Building Regulations

The New York Times reports: Florida’s high-rise building regulations have long been among the strictest in the nation. But after parts of Champlain Towers South tumbled down on June 24, killing at least 24 people and leaving 121 unaccounted for, evidence has mounted that those rules have been enforced unevenly by local governments, and sometimes not at all. Miami-Dade County …

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Another “Unsafe” Miami Beach Complex Evacuated

The Miami Herald reports: Firefighters ordered residents to evacuate a low-rise condominium complex in Miami Beach Saturday night after a building inspector flagged a flooring system failure in a vacant unit and damage to exterior walls. Miami Beach firefighters responded to a call about a vacant unit in the 1600 block of Lenox Avenue at about 7:30 p.m. when they …

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12-Story Florida Condo Tower Partially Collapses, 100 Unit Building, Massive Search And Rescue Underway

The Miami Herald reports: A 12-story oceanfront condo tower partially collapsed early Thursday morning on Collins Avenue in the town of Surfside, spurring a massive search-and-rescue effort with dozens of rescue crews from across Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Part of Champlain Towers South Condo, completed in 1981 with more than 100 units at 8777 Collins Ave., collapsed around 2 a.m. …

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Miami Beach Extends Closures For Three More Weeks

Miami’s CBS News affiliate reports: The Miami Beach City Commission has voted to extend the entertainment district curfew and causeway closures. Commissioners gathered virtually Sunday to vote on the extension of the emergency declaration issued Saturday as a response to the unruly spring break crowds on South Beach. The nightly curfews for Ocean Drive, Collins Avenue, Washington Avenue and Espanola …

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