Motorists are free to blast Justin Timberlake -- or any other music they choose -- as loud as they wish, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.
The court unanimously struck down a state law barring drivers from blaring their radios at a volume that was "plainly audible" to someone 25 feet away. Three of the seven justices -- Chief Justice Ricky Polston and Justices Charles Canady and Peggy Quince -- didn't fully support the reasoning behind the decision, but didn't write opinions saying where they differed.
The Miami Dolphins will be marking the 40th anniversary of one of the greatest feats in sports history this weekend.
Their perfect season remains intact, and that's cause for celebration.
In 1972, The Dolphins went a flawless 17 and 0 on their way to a title in Super Bowl VII, and four decades later they remain the last NFL team to make it through an entire season unscathed.
The Cuban government officially doesn't like reggaeton. As some of you know, reggaeton is that mix of Jamaican dancehall music and Spanish hip hop that you hear blasted through car speakers all over Miami and in almost any club you go to in the city.
I would say reggaeton is an acquired taste, but the Cuban government was some pretty serious feelings about this.
Credit Sagette Van Embden / Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Shakira Lockett says in high school she typically earned As and Bs in her English classes. But at Miami Dade College, she had to take remedial courses in math, reading and writing.
The series on remedial education exposed what some in the public school system at the secondary and college level already knew: that many students are graduating from high school unprepared for college.
More than a quarter of a century after Tom Wolfe's novel The Bonfire of the Vanities looked at race relations, class divisions, greed and ambition in New York City, the influential writer has shifted his focus to the Magic City.
On his recent trip to Miami, Wolfe sat down to chat with WLRN-Miami Herald News features editor Alicia Zuckerman about his new novel, Back to Blood.
Most students who receive Bright Futures scholarships would have to stay in Florida after graduation or pay back the money under a law proposed in Tallahassee. If approved, he law would take effect with the 2014-15 school year. The bill was filed by Republican Representative Jimmie Smith.
2012 will be forever remembered as the year of Hurricane Sandy.
The storm did over $50-billion in damage in the Northeast, playing out a worst case scenario exacerbated by sea-level rise. In low-lying South Florida, the problem of rising seas is more apparent than ever, the issue has recently come front and center in planning for the future.
Venus Rising performs “Rhythms of Diversity,” mixing in world fusion into its traditional West African dance and drum work, with an emphasis on the female role, form and movement; the Children of Kuumba join in for the South African boot dance.
If audiences feel empowered after a Venus Rising performance, then members of this globally-inspired group have accomplished their mission.
“We want to uplift and inspire,” says Founding Director Zeva Soroker, who started the all-female dance and drum group in 2003. “Music is an amazing thing,” she adds. “It helps with harmonizing and healing.”
Remedial courses cost students and schools money. And the need for remedial courses makes it less likely students complete their studies -- and likely boost their earnings.
John McAfee, the anti-virus software founder wanted for questioning in connection with a murder in Belize, landed at Miami International Airport last night for what he called some rest and relaxation in South Beach.
Indiana Superintendent Tony Bennett will be Florida's next education commissioner. The Florida Board of Education unanimously selected Bennett, a protege of former Gov. Jeb Bush. As Indiana's chief, Tony Bennett imported Florida education ideas to the Hoosier state. Board of education members cite Bennett's familiarity with new Common Core standards as Florida transforms how schools teach and test students. Bennett says he wants Florida to remain a national education reform leader. "I think we have a great opportunity to capture Florida's moment," Bennett says.
Florida has chosen a follower of Jeb Bush education theory from Indiana to be its next education commissioner.
Tony Bennett is serving out his term as Indiana's superintendent of public instruction after a re-election defeat. In Florida, he'll replace Gerard Robinson, who resigned months ago after only a year in office.
Former Gov. Charlie Crist has a great resume, a moderate-to-liberal heart and he's just made a public and decisive rejection of the Republican Party. Does that mean he's automatically the next Democratic candidate for governor?
As former Miami Herald political writer Beth Reinhard writes in the National Journal, not necessarily...particularly, if the rank-and-file thinks the party is stuffing Crist down their throats:
Campaign finance reports are finding a lot of Claudio Osorio's money in reports filed by prominent South Florida Democrats including Broward U. S. Rep. Debbie Wassermann Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.
On his listening tour in counties where voting was a problem last month, Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner got three suggestions in Miami on Tuesday.
Detzner, who's also the state's chief election officer, was told there were too few early voting days, not enough early voting sites and way too many words on the ballot.
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and his appointed elections supervisor, Penelope Townsley, said that was the formula for long lines and seven-hour waits to deal with 10- and 12-page ballots on Nov. 6.
There have already been a number of bills filed by Democratic state lawmakers to change parts of Florida's controversial voting law during the upcoming Legislative session, which starts March 5.
Most of the bills, so far, focus on early voting rules that were changed in 2011 -- when the Republican-controlled Legislature overhauled the state's voting law.
Jobless benefits may be cut off for more than 100,000 Floridians at the end of the month. Florida's Department of Economic Opportunity is sending notices to those receiving Emergency Unemployment Compensation from the federal government. The program provides up to an additional 20 weeks of benefits that will expire December 29 if Congress doesn't extend them. The program began in July of 2008.
Artist Desi Santiago was the man behind the epic-sized installation that featured a giant black dog wrapped around the Lords Hotel.
Called Gypsy, she breathed smoke and shot lasers from her eyes.
Gypsy also told fortunes. People wrote their questions on cards, dropped them into a box and then learned the answer as Gypsy boomed a “yes,” “no” or “maybe.”
Sand dunes and steel sheets driven underground will be used as temporary fixes to shore up a portion of Fort Lauderdale beach and State Road A1A that have been overrun by the ocean.
The $4.5-million-dollar plan was announced at a public meeting Monday night, the Sun Sentinel reports today, and it will serve as a band-aid until a permanent fix is found.
Broward Mayor Kristen Jacobs says it's the best they can do to deal with the problem in the short term.
WLRN's Marva Hinton loves cats. I mean, she really, really loves cats.
So, it came as no surprise to me that when planning a visit to Art Basel last week she decided her time would be best spent at Art Meow-sel in O Cinema: a gallery dedicated solely to cat-related art.
It's weird, I know. But it's also kind of brilliant.
As someone who isn't an art aficionado, yet has a lot of opinions about cats, I have to say that this gallery was awesome.
Former Governor and brand-new Democrat Charlie Crist explained his qualms and misgivings with the Republican Party last night in an interview with Chris Matthews on MSNBC's "Hardball" program.
Crist said his disenchantment grew as he assessed the Republican leadership views of immigration, education and voter suppression.
"As a live-and-let-live kind of guy who wants to be tolerant, who wants to be kind, who wants to be compassionate," Crist explained, "the leadership doesn't seem to embrace that kind of view."
