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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South Florida farmers cash in on farm-to-table movement

A growing number of farmers making a living in South Florida are capitalizing on the farm-to-table trend. Some are taking their fruits and veggies to markets, others are opening the doors of their fields for people to pick their own.Jerry Sanchez grew up planting seeds and harvesting vegetables in the farms of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. On his way to the farms...

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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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Bagpipes and kilts come to South Florida on Saturday

As tradition calls for it, burly male competitors will be on hand to throw large, heavy wooden poles, some as far as 20 feet.But it’s not just the athletics that will keep fans of Southeast Florida’s 30th annual Scottish Festival entertained. Expect to hear Charlie Zahm’s Celtic music, Albannach band playing the drums and blowing bagpipes, and men wearing the kilts of their...

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Second Miami cop-killer suspect changes mind; plea deal falls apart yet again

With his brother finally mentally sound and agreeing to plead guilty, cop-killing suspect Dennis Escobar changed his mind Monday. No plea deal.And so the perplexing legal saga of the Escobar brothers, accused of murdering Miami Officer Victor Estefan in 1988, took yet another bizarre twist.The plea deal – 55 years in prison – for now has fallen apart again. ...

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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 million 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...

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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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Miami-Dade has authority to enact absentee ballot law, judge rules

In its effort to crack down on voter fraud, Miami-Dade County has the authority to limit how many absentee ballots a voter can possess, a judge ruled Friday.The ruling came in the case of Sergio “El Tio” Robaina, whose lawyers had challenged a county ordinance that makes it a misdemeanor to collect multiple absentee ballots.Prosecutors say Robaina, 74, illegally collected...

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LGBT students, allies, supporters put on Youth Pride Band concert

Music is “a great conversation starter,” says Ezequiel Beltrame, an 18-year-old flutist from Hollywood Hills High School. “Even if you have nothing to talk about, you can talk about music. And that usually leads to other things.”For Beltrame and more than 50 other South Florida Youth Pride Band students, who perform Sunday at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, post-music...

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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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Scholastic Writing Awards recognizes four students’ creative writing skills

Hallee Meltzer, Andrea Villa, and Haley Zilberberg of School for Advanced Studies and Christopher Leesang of the Academy of Advanced Academics were recognized for Silver Key Awards in the 2013 Scholastic Writing Awards for their creative writing skills.Hallee became a regional finalist in humor, persuasive writing, and poetry categories. Andrea is being honored for...

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Leader of Coconut Grove school to be honored

After 45 years of educating children at Vanguard School of Coconut Grove, Director John Havrilla will retire. His life’s work of helping over 3,000 students with varying learning difficulties will be celebrated at the school’s upcoming annual gala.Havrilla and four other teachers from Vanguard School in Pennsylvania opened the Miami school with just 13 students in 1968. Along...

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What’s your Academy Awards IQ?

From the Pakistani military complex that once housed the elusive Osama bin Laden depicted in Zero Dark Thirty to the fiercely divided halls of Congress brought to life in Lincoln to the poverty-stricken streets of 19th century France captured in Les Miserables, the big screen in 2012 took audiences on a wide-ranging and captivating journey through history and across genres....

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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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Boss of alleged Miami-Dade pot ring plans to plead guilty to conspiracy charges

Derrick Santiesteban, the boss of an alleged marijuana growhouse ring that authorities say made millions off selling potent pot between Miami and New York, faces his reckoning Friday afternoon. He plans to plead guilty to conspiracy charges along with his wife, Yadira, in Miami federal court, according to public records.Raul Ramirez, a growhouse caretaker for the Santiesteban...

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Crime Watch: Steer clear of these latest email scams

Today I want to share with you some interesting scam emails shared by readers. We truly need to be super-careful and not open or respond to any of them.I personally got the one from Kabul and had to laugh because this was a new one for me. I am not showing the email address, but trust me it looked very official especially when I do have friends that are stationed in Kabul....

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Miami Beach clinic head surrenders to FBI

Kathryn Abbate, former head of the Miami Beach Community Health Center, surrendered to the FBI on Wednesday, charged with defrauding federal healthcare agencies. She is scheduled to make her first court appearance at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.Abbate was fired last year after the center’s board alleged that she had diverted $6.8 million in funds to her personal use -- money that...

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Chinese New Year rings in at St. Thomas University

A Chinese Lunar New Year celebration was held at St. Thomas University on Sunday, Feb. 10, in Miami Gardens. The free event was open to the public and also featured an ancestral-veneration ceremony, lion dances and a reception. ...

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Carnival ship fire quickly extinguished as ship wallows in Gulf awaiting tug

The Carnival Triumph, a Galveston, Texas-based passenger cruise ship with the theme “Great Cities Around the World,” might have been better off sitting at port, as a court initially ordered. As of Monday morning the 14-year old ship was going nowhere, operating on emergency generator power after a fire Sunday in one of the diesel generators killed its propulsion. The fire...

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