June marks the official beginning of hurricane season, but most Miamians know August can be prime time for destructive action. Given the fact that we’ve gone a historically long time without a major storm, though, it’s safe to assume most locals aren’t worried about hurricanes this year. However, it appears…
The Florida Department of Health announced today that a grand total of two people in Miami-Dade County and two people in Broward County have contracted Zika virus from native, Florida mosquitoes. This is cause for alarm and for caution, but not, as many folks on the internet are saying, to…
It’s pretty darn clear orca whales shouldn’t be kept alone in small enclosures. We’ve all seen Blackfish by now. And yet, the Miami Seaquarium’s Lolita remains the sole killer whale on the premises, despite years of protests to free her from her relatively tiny tank. Because PETA is PETA, and pretty…
For decades, oil tycoons have had their eyes set on Big Cypress National Preserve, a pristine national park in the Everglades at the western edge of Miami-Dade County. The preserve has been a battlefront since at least 2002, when New Times detailed the U.S. government’s fight to block drilling in Big Cypress…
On the surface, it seems like a pretty easy question to answer: Should Florida allow more cancer-causing chemicals to pollute its water? But then again, this is Gov. Rick Scott’s Sunshine State, where concerns like “public health” often take a back seat to corporate cronyism. Critics say that’s exactly why…
As Kendall’s population has spiked in recent decades to more than 75,000, the suburb’s sprawling fields and swamp lands have disappeared to make way for more single family homes and strip malls. Already facing overcrowding and traffic, residents there are now fighting to keep two of West Kendall’s last green…
Late last month, Anthony Apfelbeck, a fire marshal and building official in the Central Florida city of Altamonte Springs, sent a link to a story about sea-level rise to a listserve for the Building Officials Association of Florida, an email group where contractors, architects, and building officials connect to answer…
In March, state regulators announced that the Turkey Point nuclear power plant had been leaking dangerous saltwater into the Biscayne Bay, and possibly the Biscayne Aquifer, the county’s largest source of drinking water, leaving local politicians were aghast. But environmentalists say outrage isn’t enough when dealing with the powerful Florida…
On Sunday, the Daily Caller, the right-wing news site run by former CNN talking-bowtie Tucker Carlson, did Miami a huge favor: The site fixed our long-term issues with sea-level-rise in a single article. Huzzah! According to the Caller, man is not melting the polar ice caps, and Miami is not actually getting…
Like a group of teenagers playing hooky, they roam the streets hooting and hollering, trespassing through backyards and having sex in inappropriate places. Their strength is in numbers, and these peacocks roll deep. “They’re beautiful animals and in the beginning, they’re nice,” says Coconut Grove resident Danny Mugnai. And then comes…
One day early last year, Luiz Rodrigues gazed out at the dunes near the Fourth Street Beach. The sandy hills are cordoned off with rope and wooden fencing, a sanctuary for many amid the bustle of South Beach. Inside, sea oats swayed in the wind. Fuchsia bayhop flowers blossomed. But…
A little over two years ago, Douglas Park, a ten-acre green area just north of Coral Gables closed after city officials found elevated levels of arsenic, lead, barium, and other hazardous materials in the soil. And then, nothing happened. Month after month, the park sat dormant and overgrown. A cadre of…
If you’re living in South Florida, by now you’ve probably come around to the idea of climate change and realized that, like it or not, sea levels are rising. But solutions to the problem are pricey, and there’s no clear consensus for how we’re all going to pay for the…
“Ninth Street and A1A Boulevard.” Richard Whitecloud relays his oceanfront location to the emergency dispatcher. “The fatalities just keep racking up in this intersection,” he mutters. “Dammit, man. Intersection of death!” Whitecloud, six feet one with long, curly hair kept back in a ponytail, bends down to inspect a corpse:…
Everyone agrees on this: Florida’s waterways are facing an unprecedented emergency. Toxic algae blooms have choked waterways across the state, closing beaches and rivers to tourists and residents. Gov. Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency in two counties. There’s less agreement about who’s at fault. Scott’s blamed the…
You love the Everglades, right? Of course you do. We all live in Florida, and we all love the Everglades. It’s a river of grass. A unique ecosystem not duplicated anywhere else in the entire world. A true state treasure. Would you like to help the Everglades Nationa Park? Of…
For Miami condo developers there’s no such thing as too many balconies too high up in the air. Unfortunately, when the weather gets rough and the winds starts to gust, all those high-rise balconies can prove dangerous. Especially when patio furniture isn’t properly secured. On Saturday, the inclement weather apparently…
Florida’s coral reefs are already in big trouble. Scientists around the globe have noted serious problems for the delicate but vital ecosystems, especially from “bleaching,” a process that occurs when high heat and sunshine causes devastating effects. But that’s not the only threat reefs in Florida face. A Florida Keys study…
Yesterday, three Florida International University students set out in a small center-console, Mako-style boat to collect water samples in Whitewater Bay, a huge expanse of water on the southwestern edge of Everglades National Park. They never made it back. Last evening, the U.S. Coast Guard got a call that the…
Getting onto the beach in the tiny Miami-Dade town of Golden Beach is, in and of itself, no easy feat. There’s no public access onto the sand, and anyone driving into town has to enter through a gate that snaps their picture. But say, for argument’s sake, you find yourself…
For paddle sport enthusiasts like Sunny McLean, Miami should be a paradise — surrounded by water, blessed with year-round warm weather. But paradoxically, finding a safe place for sports like dragon boat racing and kayaking in the 305 is really difficult. In fact, the waters off Virginia Key are some…
Two years ago, Miami Beach banned all styrofoam from its city. Banning the notoriously polluting material wasn’t particularly controversial, with most local businesses telling reporters they didn’t mind making the change to more compostable materials. Well, Florida being Florida, the state legislature found this simple eco-friendly move abhorrent. Earlier this…
