Attorney for dad of missing Hallandale Beach baby says evidence was damaged

The tiny bones recovered from a backyard grave have a story to tell: Are these the remains of Dontrell Melvin, a baby whose family didn’t report him missing for 18 months? And how was the baby killed?According to notes in the Hallandale Beach police lead investigator’s file, there was blunt force trauma to the child’s cranium after his death, likely caused during the search...

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Florida man vanishes after being sucked into sinkhole under his bedroom

SEFFNER -- A sheriff's deputy plucked a man from an expanding sinkhole, but neither was able to save the man's brother from being sucked into the rubble, authorities said.Early Friday, authorities said the site at 240 Faithway Drive had become too unstable to continue rescue efforts and the focus would instead shift to a recovery operation.The sinkhole opened late Thursday...

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Miami-Dade mayor says partnerships, technology will move county forward

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez will deliver his annual speech to the county Thursday, laying out his goals for revving up the local economy, promoting regional cooperation and improving a public transportation system that is, at best, inadequate.In a wide-ranging interview previewing his state-of-the-county speech, Gimenez told The Miami Herald that he is optimistic about...

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Two charged with taking protected live sharks from the Keys

For the second time in weeks, federal prosecutors have ordered the arrest of people for illegally taking live sharks out of the Florida Keys.Two officials of Idaho Aquarium Inc. in Boise were indicted on federal charges of conspiracy and illegally purchasing four spotted eagle rays and two lemon sharks, all protected species and all from Keys waters.Ammon Covino, 39, president...

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Miami businessman who pleaded guilty to stealing millions from Medicare is sentenced to 14 years in prison

A local businessman who moved his mental health chain from Miami-Dade to North Carolina after the feds suspected him of a Medicare scam was sentenced to 14 years in prison on Monday and ordered to reimburse the taxpayer-funded program $28 million.Kept behind bars since his arrest because of fears he might flee to Cuba, Armando “Manny” Gonzalez pleaded guilty in December to...

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At least one wounded in Miami shooting

Miami police detectives Monday morning are on the scene of a shooting that wounded at least one person.Police have cordoned off the area of Northwest Avenue at 43rd street as they investigate.Still visible on the street: a bloody rag next to the tire of a Ford sports utility vehicle. This bulletin will be updated as more information becomes available. ...

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Miami Dolphins hopeful on stadium referendum date

The Miami Dolphins are hopeful the Miami-Dade County Commission will approve a May 14 date for a referendum on the $400 rehabilitation of their stadium, time enough to get South Florida in play for Super Bowl 50, a Dolphins spokesman said Saturday.Spokesman Ric Katz said the language of the proposed referendum has yet to be decided, and ultimately the commission decides the...

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Miami police union challenges officer’s firing for fatal shooting

The Fraternal Order of Police filed a lawsuit against the city of Miami on Friday, asserting that an officer who fatally shot an unarmed motorist in 2011 was improperly fired from the police department.Officer Reynaldo Goyos shot and killed Travis McNeil as he sat in a car at a Little Haiti intersection. It was one of a string of seven deadly shootings of black men in the...

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Marquee Memories

John Travolta set his boogie shoes strolling in Saturday Night Fever at Miami’s The Omni 6. Angie Dickinson shared her shower with us as she Dressed to Kill at the Concord on Bird Road and 114th Avenue. The revelation, “Luke, I am your father,” had you gripping your plush, gold seat at the Dadeland Twin movie theater as The Empire Strikes Back revealed its shocker.Plus,...

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Broward doesn’t plan to sit out of Super Bowl

As the Miami Dolphins push Miami-Dade County to raise hotel taxes in pursuit of Super Bowl 50, Broward County’s tourism industry may be fighting for some home-field advantage.Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is pledging to base future championships in Miami-Dade if his proposed financing plan gets approved, and he has come close to apologizing for the central role Broward played...

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Election reform, bridge repairs top Miami-Dade Commission agenda

Miami-Dade commissioners are expected Wednesday to urge the state legislature to allow Election Day voters to drop off their absentee ballots at their local precincts, and ask the mayor to identify funding to repair and upgrade the county’s 203 bridges. Returning absentee ballots to local precincts was one of 13 recommendations in a report by an Election Advisory Group that...

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‘Animal walk’ to help rescue groups find homes for pets

When Laurie Hoffman decided to foster Gracie, a 3-year-old mixed toy greyhound who was found running in the streets and getting caught in the grates of a bridge in downtown Miami, she didn’t expect to keep her.But she couldn’t help it.“Many of us have gotten to a point in our lives where we want to give back. We want to be able to help others who can’t help themselves,” said...

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Two face 1,300 fishing violations

Two commercial fishermen have been charged with a total of more than 1,300 conservation violations after being found inside a no-take zone in the Dry Tortugas, marine law-enforcement officers report.Both men were cited last week for harvesting 664 yellowtail snapper — one misdemeanor count for each fish — seized from the commercial boat Candelaria, according to the Florida...

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Speaker to discuss the Jews of Zimbabwe

You are invited to hear Modreck Zvakavapano Maeresera and Tudor Parfitt, as they lecture on "The Lamba Jews of Zimbabwe" at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday at the Jewish Museum of Florida, 301 Washington Ave. in Miami Beach. You will want to attend this event; Maeresera is a leader in the Lemba Jewish community in Zimbaabwe. He coordinates a program of Jewish cyber-learning, studying...

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Joe Martinez says he’ll challenge Joe Garcia

Joe Martinez, the former Miami-Dade Commission chairman who lost his bid to become county mayor last year, said Friday that he intends to run against U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia in 2014.“I’m meeting with different people and feeling them out, seeing what the level of support will be there,” Martinez told The Miami Herald shortly after announcing his intentions on Facebook. He wants...

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Little Havana families stuck in crumbling condos

The owners of condominiums in the Havana Palms complex in Little Havana feel as if they are living aboard the Titanic. Everything is sinking.“We’re afraid to walk in our own living rooms, to step into the bathroom, to gain weight, because our floors sink deeper every day,” said Mario Pineda, 53.At the peak of the real estate bubble, between 2006 and 2009, about 20 neighbors...

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Former Gov. Jeb Bush talks immigration, bipartisanship in Florida

SAN ANTONIO -- Jeb Bush wouldn’t say Wednesday night whether or not he’s likely to run for president in 2016, but at Saint Leo University he did suggest a surprising role model for the sort of president he’d strive to be: Lyndon Johnson.No, the conservative former Florida governor didn’t hail Johnson’s Great Society initiatives. Instead, he hailed Johnson’s forceful, hands-on...

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Key West’s ‘Scrub Club’ reportedly scrubbing debit cards of adult-entertainment clients

Key West has a long-held reputation as an anything-goes party town that tolerates -- and in many cases facilitates -- an array of bawdy pastimes.A stroll down Duval Street yields strip clubs, clothing-optional bars and establishments catering to alternative lifestyles. But the Adult Entertainment Club, formerly and colloquially known as the Scrub Club, at 1221 Duval is different.In...

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Woman to be sentenced in Rilya Wilson foster child abuse case

To be sentenced Tuesday: the Kendall woman convicted of abusing and kidnapping missing foster child Rilya Wilson over a decade ago.Geralyn Graham, 67, was convicted by jury last month in a case that roiled Florida’s child welfare agency, which was supposed to monitor the child. The body of Rilya, who was 4 years old when she vanished, has never been found.Miami-Dade Circuit...

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A Super Bowl may be required for Sun Life Stadium fix-up taxes

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said Monday he may require South Florida hosting a Super Bowl first as a condition for using county hotel taxes to fund part of a $400 million renovation of Sun Life Stadium.At Monday morning news conference announcing a referendum requirement for the taxes, Gimenez also said he would like to have voters give the county the option to withhold...

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