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After being tied up in legal battles and neglect for nearly two decades, Miami-Dade County is finally ready to begin construction on a long-anticipated renovation of the historic Coconut Grove Playhouse. In the proposed Miami-Dade County budget that is currently being debated by commissioners, $16.4 million is being recommended for construction on the project, up from $100,000 in the current year. The county anticipates that construction will continue through the 2025-26 fiscal year, with $26 million in estimated construction costs. Under the proposed budget, construction would finish in the 2026-27 fiscal year. The proposed construction funding comes just two weeks after Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal cleared the way for a partial demolition of the historic playhouse, a move that essentially cleared the last legal hurdle for beginning construction, according to the county. "We are pleased with the outcome of this litigation. With this chapter behind us, we look forward to collaborating with our City of Miami partners and engaging with the community as we move forward to restore and rebuild the Coconut Grove Playhouse — a historic icon cherished by so many in our community," Raquel Regalado, the county District Seven Commissioner, told WLRN in a statement. Roughly 80% of the building will be demolished as part of the construction of the new space. Most of what will be left of the original structure is the historic facade. The theater itself will be reduced under the county plan, shrinking to 300 seats from the 1150 seats in the building now, a fact that sparked much of the community pushback to the plan. A courtyard and other pedestrian-friendly features will take up space resulting from the smaller theater, along with commercial retail space. The Playhouse operated between 1927 and 2006, first as a movie theater then later as a playhouse. During its heyday between the 1950s and early 2000s, legends of the theater like Maureen Stapleton and Liza Minelli performed there, and it was one of the best known theaters in the East Coast circuit. Tap the link below to continue reading. Story by Daniel Rivero.

Editor's note: Below is an excerpt of a weekly commentary by WLRN's Americas editor Tim Padgett. “Donald Trump isn’t the only brute spreading the despicably dehumanizing lie that Black Haitian migrants are eating white people’s cats. Aside from the former President and current GOP presidential candidate, not to mention his running mate JD Vance, we’ve got our own falsehood-mongers propagating that lie right here in Miami. For starters: notorious Spanish-language radio demagogue Carinés Moncada. Moncada is a right-wing Venezuelan-American Trump devotee who calls herself a 'journalist' the way some astrologers consider themselves astrophysicists. She’s the disinformation diva who once declared the Black Lives Matter racial justice movement a Satanic cult. So it’s no surprise Moncada strapped herself into the MAGA wagon this week to trumpet a fraudulent video that accuses Haitian migrants of besieging the town of Springfield, Ohio, and devouring 'the pets of the people that live there!' as an unhinged Trump ranted at Tuesday night’s presidential debate. Or as Moncada posted about the video on the Elon Musk disinformation site known as X: 'The police arrive and find this Haitian migrant woman EATING A CAT.' Moncada the 'journalist' of course never bothered, or cared, to find out that the woman in the video is not a Haitian migrant but a U.S. citizen; that she’s not actually eating a cat; that the video wasn’t even shot in Springfield. Officials there have confirmed quite emphatically that the malicious rumor about Haitians feasting on felines is just that — the kind of shameless crap that hate-hawkers like Moncada transmit as recklessly as COVID-19 at biker rallies. But brazen untruths are the incorrigible career path Moncada and her ilk have chosen. So I’ve thought of a way that catty Carinés can build some journalistic credibility — to present herself as a more even-handed insulter, a more equal-opportunity demonizer.' Continue reading Tim’s column through the link in our bio. 📸 Alex Brandon / AP

Two steps. Shoulder bounces. Cross-genre music always sets the dance vibes at Off The Clock, one of a few intimate pop-ups of eclectic artists and young professionals in Palm Beach County who are tapped into an off-the-beaten-track food, art and music scene. This time, OTC Editions, event planners and independent artist collective that isn’t backed by any major cultural institutions, returns with its second OTC fashion edition. The live exhibition features art installations, live painting, and a "fashion flash mob" — a spontaneous, unorganized runaway of models of various ethnic backgrounds, styles and sizes. It promises to illustrate how fashion itself is an applied art form, challenging age-old arguments that it isn’t, said Horace Henry, the OTC founder and avid fashion connoisseur. Although the institutional systems and gatekeepers underlying the fashion and art industry function differently, Henry said fashion is inextricably linked to “visual culture" and that live exhibitions of multi-fabric clothes and hairstyles makes it a "unique artistic expression" that extend beyond name brands and capitalistic trends. "I carry myself in a specific way based on how I feel, just like how an artist will paint something based on how they feel,” Henry told WLRN. “It's not just putting on some clothes and walking outside. It's a lot of intentionality within it.” OTC is bringing their talents to the new A'lu Mexican Cuisine in Boynton Beach, a boho chic style restaurant with a bright outdoor space overlooking a lake. Locals who frequent OTC events are accustomed to their After Dark Listening sessions at Ravish — an al-fresco style restaurant in Lantana — where popular guest DJs spin vinyl records of soul, funk, house and Hip Hop and “mash it up” with R&B, AfroBeats, reggae, Latino and Haitian music. For the pop-up at A'lu, the gathering itself is moving art, turning the place into “a home for creatives, a place where you can clock out and connect,” said Henry, who has worked in hospitality industry for nearly 15 years. Tap the link below to continue reading. Story by Wilkine Brutus. 📸 OTC Editions

The city of Westlake in Palm Beach County, one of the nation's fastest-growing cities, is trying to entice residents through its $4 million affordable housing program — part of an effort to address Florida's long-running housing crisis. But not just anyone can apply. The county’s newest city, the 39th municipality that was incorporated in 2016, is targeting potential residents who are considered “Essential Service Personnel” — educators, military veterans, health care workers, police and firefighters. Through Westlake's updated Housing Assistance Purchase Program Yearly (HAPPY), the city is attracting the “backbone of America,” said John Carter, senior vice president of Minto Communities, the main development company that has built housing in the city since its inception. Minto, which is capped at developing up to 6,500 homes in the city, is in the first phase of new townhome projects, including The Terraces. For The Terraces, which start in the mid $300,000 range, eligible first-time homebuyers or people who haven’t owned a residence in the last three years, can qualify for up to $35,000 toward the purchase of an affordable housing unit. The downpayment assistance program is based on federal Area Median Income (AMI) guidelines. In partnership with Minto, Westlake officials said the housing program is gaining momentum. The revamped program has awarded nearly $800,000. To date, since late 2016, a total of 40 homebuyers have used the HAPPY program with 7-10 potential buyers expected to close in the next 6 months, Cassel said. And there are more than 40 pending applications. Westlake’s city manager, Kenneth Cassel told WLRN new stipulations in the program are making it more accessible to more people. Previously, there were “income constraints and housing cost constraints” that “made it so that people could qualify, but they couldn't really buy the house.” Tap the link below to continue reading. Story by Wilkine Brutus. 📸 Minto Communities

Punk rock music's anti-establishment ethos and social commentary famously emerged in the rebellious 1970s. But the genre has been making a resurgence in contemporary culture — spawning new expressions of rage, uncertainty and even joy. That's particularly true in Florida, where the underground punk and indie rock scene is thriving. Next weekend, 21 bands will be head-bobbing through this alternative wave at BumbleFest, Palm Beach County’s preeminent indie music festival. And many of the lyrics are probing turbulent times, said Kennie Mason, lead singer of SIICHAQ, an indie-rock band from Jacksonville. The band’s name derives from Mason’s Iñupiat heritage, a Native Alaskan group. She said their debut album My Dog Ate My Patriotism, addresses the pressures women often go through in American society, such as the rollback of female reproductive rights. “It's really just a kind of criticism of the way that things have gone lately,” Mason told WLRN. “But also the acknowledgement that women are resilient, and there will be things done to remedy the regression.” Her song "Female Rage,” is a dark shoegaze record with moody, reverb-heavy vocals. Mason, a 22-year-old musician who draws rock and punk influences from noisy, 90’s era bands like Nirvana and Bikini Kill, said it's through alternative music, like punk, that fans resonate with various grievances or different perspectives about life “I have so much respect for the punk community,” Mason said. “And there is a resurgence. People are angry. People are feeling that rebellious fire igniting again like it did in the 90s and even before that.” Original punk music took root around the mid-1970s before it declined and morphed into different subgenres beginning in the 1980s. James Cunningham, a practicing musician, composer and ethnomusicologist who teaches music history at Florida Atlantic University, said he noticed a strong resurgence of punk in Palm Beach County just over a decade ago. Tap the link below to continue reading. Story by Wilkine Brutus. 📸 Kennie Mason

“I’ll feel the need to take a shower after I write this. But I confess the approach of the U.S. presidential election has me inclined to defend Elon Musk’s free-speech claims in Brazil. Let me first be very clear: calling X a social media platform is like calling a septic tank a public swimming pool. Since billionaire narcissist Musk bought the 280-characters-only bulletin board formerly known as Twitter two years ago, X has become a disinformation porn site, both right- and left-wing — but especially right-wing, because that’s the brand of disinformation porn Musk likes. This week’s wanton misrepresentation of a 2019 Kamala Harris video by The Creepy Kennedy (Robert F. Jr.) is just the latest of countless lies crawling all over X like maggots on rotted sirloin. But that doesn’t mean I’m applauding the Brazilian high court’s moves in recent days to ban X inside Latin America’s largest country. It’s arguing that too much of the site’s content is more dishonest than the calorie counter on a churrasco menu. Musk, meanwhile, is ranting that his free-speech rights are being bludgeoned by a cabal of Brazilian Bolsheviks. And he appears to be right, at least about the free speech part. Or rather, he would be right if we were talking about U.S. 1st Amendment free-speech standards. But Musk is facing Brazil’s sovereign standards. He acknowledged as much this week when, tail placed firmly between his legs, he had his satellite internet service Starlink itself agree to block X in Brazil so it can keep doing business there. Still, I’m an American — a 1st Amendment pearl-clutcher, as many of my non-American colleagues jokingly call me — and I get uneasy really easily when I see any country censor content that doesn’t meet the bar of a safety or slander threat to a person or the public." Editor's note: The above is an excerpt of a weekly commentary by WLRN's Americas editor Tim Padgett. Continue reading Tim’s column through the link below 📸 Eraldo Peres/AP

More than 63,000 public employees across Florida have had their labor unions fully decertified and shuttered by the state since a sweeping anti-union law went into effect last year, WLRN has found. A total of 54 public sector unions have been legally terminated explicitly because they do not meet requirements of the new law, according to state filings. The staggering blow to labor in Florida has quietly impacted workers’ ability to collectively bargain in every corner of the state. Everyone from municipal employees of the small city of Defuniak Springs in the Florida Panhandle to custodial staff and adjunct professors at large state universities and Orlando airport workers have lost their union representation. Senate Bill 256, passed in 2023, required public labor unions in Florida to have at least 60% of members paying dues in order for a union to be recognized by state law. The new threshold — there previously was no threshold for the vast majority of public sector unions — was coupled with a ban on government employers being able to deduct union dues from workers’ paychecks. It meant that it became harder to pay dues, while simultaneously requiring more workers to pay dues to keep their labor unions alive. As labor leaders and activists warned, that double-whammy law has immediately led to a sharp decrease in union membership in Florida. Notably, the right to join a union is enshrined in the Florida Constitution. It is one of the very few states to do so. That’s part of why several labor groups are currently fighting the law in court. In 2023, an estimated 6.1% of the Florida workforce was represented by unions, about 578,000 workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The immediate dropoff due to the state law is poised to shrink that number by about half a percentage point in one fell swoop. Dozens of unions are in the process of fighting to stay certified after failing to meet the 60% threshold, and the percentage of workers represented by unions will likely further shrink in the coming months and years. Tap the link below to continue reading. Story by Daniel Rivero.

Dr. Zaineb Shatawi, a fourth-year general surgery resident at Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines, sat down at the console of a da Vinci simulator, removed her shoes to use the blue and yellow pedals, and immersed her face into a space that shows a three-dimensional view of a surgical area of a virtual patient. “You’re looking through this eyepiece, and then in this simulator you have three instruments in the patient’s body,” Shatawi explained. “So you can control two at a time and then if you want to use a third one you can switch between controls.” Shatawi put her hands on the control, which moves as smoothly as a wrist. Hand movements and foot pedals can control the camera, like adjusting the focus. Decades ago, the thought of robotic surgeries may have conjured images of operations happening at the hands of a machine. Today, surgeons are increasingly using robotic arms with tools attached to do all kinds of surgeries. It's helping patients with less invasive procedures and providing surgeons with a pinpoint accurate tool to do their work. Dr. Holly Neville, program director for general surgery and the chief of pediatric general surgery at Memorial Healthcare System, said robotic machines enable surgeons to make fine, precise incisions “that allow for shorter hospital stays, less narcotics, faster return to full diet, faster return to work which, one, it’s better quality, and two, it’s safer for the patient.” This year, Memorial Healthcare System increased the number of surgical robots from eight to 15. The hospital system’s investment is for the hospital as well as the patients, Neville said. Smaller incisions may have fewer complications during surgery, fewer infections and less blood loss. The recovery time is shorter than a typical laparoscopic surgery. What’s more, beds open up sooner to admit new patients for other procedures. Said Neville: “The robot, of course, is an expensive piece of equipment. There’s zero doubt about that.” Tap the link below to continue reading. Story by Verónica Zaragovia. 📸 Memorial Healthcare System

Every mango season, which usually runs from late May to early October, Chef Niven Patel collects a surplus of succulent mangos from his two-acre Homestead farm and stores them in his restaurant's freezer. But this year, he's got no surplus following a poor growing season and, as a result, will have a hard time making mango lassi, an Indian yogurt-based beverage, and green mango chutney at Ghee Indian Kitchen in Kendall. “Usually this time of the year you’re still getting those really nice big mangos that are just getting ready now and they are pretty much nonexistent,” Patel told WLRN. "We haven't been able to freeze anything." He is not alone in experiencing the scarcity of mango. Local growers across the South Florida region reported earlier this summer being disappointed with the year's mango crop. It is in marked contrast to last year's abundant season. Jonathan Crane, a tropical fruit crop specialist at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences in Homestead, said this year’s poor showing is likely caused by the colder weather the area experienced during the blooming season of the tree, which happens from January to March. “We had consistently cool temperatures in the mid to low 40s,” Crane said. “Those cold temperatures actually damage the embryo of the seed and damage the flowers, so it doesn’t set fruit.” The cold weather also may have prevented mango pollinators such as different species of flies not being able to fly to move the pollen to the female plant parts, he said. Another contributing factor: mango crop production tends to be lower the following year after a large crop. Crane added that crops in the areas of West Palm Beach and Lee County didn’t seem to be as dramatically affected by the weather events. For now, Crane advises growers to keep their trees as healthy as possible as all mango lovers wait for better weather next year. Tap the link below to continue reading. Story by Jimena Romero.

“Two legal events on opposite sides of the Caribbean have made it clear to me why former President Donald Trump’s been calling Caracas a 'very safe' city. It's not because Venezuela's capital is, as he says, crime-free. (It’s frighteningly crime-ridden.) It's because he knows it’s a place he could potentially take refuge in. Consider that this week, U.S. special prosecutor Jack Smith submitted his revised indictment of Trump for his alleged conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election he lost — including inciting the violent mob that attacked the U.S. Congress on Jan. 6, 2021. Then recall that last week, the Venezuelan Supreme Court approved socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro’s brazen and brutal theft of a July 28 presidential election that all evidence shows he lost by a landslide. Should Trump face prosecution here, he knows he can seek safe haven there. Not that Trump faces trial for sure, of course. Smith had to tweak his indictment to accommodate the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling, in a case titled (surprise!) Trump v. United States, that presidents enjoy broad immunity from criminal prosecution for acts committed while in office as part of their duties. Smith now has to show Trump perpetrated his assault-and-battery on the U.S. Constitution as a candidate instead of as commander-in-chief. The indictment still faces an uphill climb, because the conservative justices’ new, reckless notion of presidential immunity looks a lot like a Monopoly Get Out Of Jail Free card. And what’s most disturbing about it is how it seems to indulge presidential actions in the White House that we usually look for in the Kremlin — the extrajudicial deeds of dictators. Like Nicolás Maduro. Trump’s narcissist eye undoubtedly sees the U.S. Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision as the same sort of back-room, transactional favor Venezuela’s lapdog Supreme Court did for Maduro by validating his preposterous victory claim." Editor's note: The above is an excerpt of a weekly commentary by WLRN's Americas editor Tim Padgett. Continue reading Tim’s column through the link below. 📸 Ariana Cubillos / AP