Archive for August, 2009
Between the start of April and the end of July, Florida Energy Associates spent as much as $234,000 on legal work and lobbying to push a bill through the Legislature last session to open Florida waters to oil exploration and end the 20-year drilling moratorium. The measure passed the House, 70-43, but died in the Senate.
The group has returned, ready to renew the effort, and supporters say defeat won't happen again.
"I predict we'll pass the bill and the governor will sign it," boasted Barney Bishop, president of Associated Industries of Florida, which is backing the measure. Read more here.
It’s the end of summer and the beginning of a new school year. That means it’s time for Lunch Week again at Miami Dish. This week is all about the midday meal.
I’ll share a new Man on the Street contribution, as well as some links to help you think outside of the (lunch) box.
People around the country are advocating for better school lunches. I’ll post about local efforts to make school lunches healthier and more delicious.
It’s time to live every week like it’s Lunch Week!
What are you eating for lunch this week? Send me a picture and description of your lunch to trina@miamidish.net or post a photo on the Miami Dish Facebook page. I’ll pick one at random to win a free lunch!
Announcing DawnTown 2009: Metromover! DawnTown is the annual international architecture competition for Downtown Miami. This year’s topic is a new station for Downtown Miami’s elevated public transportation system, Metromover. Full contest details are at www.dawntown.org.
- Terry Riley, Director of the Miami Art Museum
- Gillian Thomas, President of the Miami Science Museum
- Mera Rubell of the Rubell Family Collection
- Dennis Scholl, Miami program Director of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
- Harpal Kapoor, Director of Miami-Dade Transit
Prize are $8000, $4000, and $2000. The award ceremony will take place on Friday, December 4, at Marquis, the luxury condo and hotel tower across the street from the competition site.
For more information and to download competition materials, please go to www.dawntown.org
DawnTown 2009: Metromover is sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Miami Downtown Development Authority, Marquis, and Akerman Senterfitt. The competition is produced in partnership with the University of Miami, Florida International University, and Miami-Dade College schools of architecture, Design & Architecture Senior High, the Miami Art Museum, and the City of Miami.
Kudos to the Miami-Dade Park Department for their recent addition of a new bark park at the south-end of Tropical Park. I’ve been there every weekend since it opened, and this park boasts more than just an enclosed field to unleash the furriest member of your family.
On the weekends, one of my favorite things to do is go to the dog park with my 3-year-old little man and my white 2-year old cotton-ball pup, Sonny. It’s a great way to tire them both out.
In the past my closest option to give Sonny some outdoor off-the-leash time was to head to Kennedy Park in Coconut Grove. Although the park does have beautiful views of the bay, it isn’t convenient to my South Miami home, and the section set apart for the dogs is nothing short of a large enclosed field that quickly turns into a mud pit after a few drops of rain. Considering I like to bring Sonny home as white as he was when we left, this used to mean dressing him up in his snazzy green “Macho Mutt” tee every time we left the house. And in the 100° Miami heat, he wasn’t always very appreciative.
Tropical Park’s new ‘Bark Park’ is located on the lake, and provides a large secure entrance where you can be sure your dog will not escape before you enter into one of two subdivided play areas: one for dogs under 35 lbs and another for dogs over 35 lbs. Even though my petite pup plays rough, he prefers to chase the tiny terriers, so that’s where my son and I spend our time.
The park includes a paved path surrounded by lawn areas (instead of dirt fields that can quickly become muddy), and newly planted trees that will provide shade as they mature. There are ample places to sit, from picnic tables under a tented area to benches scattered along the path. And as a bonus for the pups, there is an obstacle course, doggie fountains and a doggie mister for those really hot afternoons.
It’s tough to find places that I enjoy visiting and that don’t bore my son to death, which is why we frequent the new bark park so much. There’s only so much time I can spend with him at the playground without going stir-crazy. Here, my son and our dog can run around (and not escape) while I relax and socialize.
The social aspect of the park is one of its great perks. There is something about people being with their dogs that makes them friendly and engaging. Several times, I have seen groups of teens (or even tweens) hanging out on the picnic benches chatting and just observing other people’s dogs running around and getting into trouble. I, on the other hand, have a good time eavesdropping on their conversations thinking to myself “Did I say things like that when I was that age?!” It’s a win-win for everyone.
One suggestion I have to improve this and future bark parks is to include a greater variety of activities within the enclosed area for all members of the family. It would be great to include a small tot lot or playground area for my son to enjoy the park as well as for my pup. Since dogs are not allowed on playgrounds, there is nowhere where dogs and kids can play side-by-side, helping the working parents of Miami tire out their children and pets simultaneously. Well, I can dream, can’t I?
Under fire for delivering double-digit raises to his closest advisors during a budget crisis, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez has defended himself by saying the perks were part of a broader staff reorganization that eliminated jobs and saved money.
But many of the executives whose jobs disappeared are still working for the county, in some cases at higher salaries — raising questions about how much the cutbacks have saved taxpayers.
For example, the mayor said the 54 percent raise he gave in 2008 to his $125,000 per year director of communications, Victoria Mallette, was a bargain because she replaced two other executives.
“The truth is, if you look at the situation as it really played out, I saved the county, I don't know, more than $100,000,'' Alvarez told WQBA radio host Oscar Haza on Tuesday, two days after a Miami Herald report detailed raises to his top aides. Read more here.
– JACK DOLAN AND MATT HAGGMAN
The US Chamber of Commerce inexplicably wants to re-open the debate on global warming, asking the EPA to sponsor a "Scopes Monkey trial" debate. How has this pro-business group turned into fringe actors? In Florida, the Chamber represents a status quo–mainly land speculators, bankers, developers and realtors– that plunged the state into the worst economic crisis since the Depression. "It would
Go to Source
Check out the Jim Morin video…he is awesome. Learn a little about what makes him tick when thinking about his cartoon choices.
Go to Source
Eight years ago, the young chairman of the Broward Republican Party appealed to his cohorts to stay out of a divisive petition drive to overturn the county's gay rights law. "GOP UNITY'' read the banner he unfurled as he walked through a hushed crowd, arguing that the petition would distract from the party's true goal — electing Republicans.
The young party leader was George LeMieux, tapped by Gov. Charlie Crist on Friday to fill Mel Martinez's unfinished Senate term until the governor can win the post himself in the 2010 election.
The shortcut for a Republican who never won elected office to America's most exclusive political club began in the state's Democratic stronghold. The anti-gay petition drive failed, while LeMieux mobilized a turnout befitting a presidential candidate for Gov. Jeb Bush's reelection. Like Crist, he learned a politically calculated lesson that winning — not ideology — is what matters.
Full column here.
Everything you wanted to know about Florida's next U.S. Senator is in this story here. Here's the video of the announcement, Friday Aug. 28, 2009, at the Old Capitol in Tallahassee: