O'Connor reveals Miami's barbecue sanctuaries where you can always find smoking good food.
Beaches editor: Gail Epstein gepstein@MiamiHerald.com 305-376-2036
Residents of the Venetian Islands in Miami and Miami Beach can expect to see bridge, streetscape and drainage improvements along the Venetian Causeway starting this October.
MIAMI BEACH A group of gunmen wearing masks and gloves barged into an apartment at 6601 Collins Ave. and robbed a woman at 10 p.m. July 10. The victim said three to four men entered the apartment, dragged her into a room, and hit her on the head with a pistol before ransacking the place. The men took her jewelry valued at $3,000, set off fireworks inside the residence and then ran away.
Under a neat green awning just west of Ocean Drive on 12th Street, architecture aficionados and Deco devotees can find the temporary new home of Miami Beach's Art Deco Welcome Center.
Though stopping short of an outright ban, city commissioners made it harder for pedicabs to do business in Miami Beach with a new ordinance approved Wednesday.
Miami Beach leaders will cut cultural events and raise all sorts of fees -- for parking, golfing and beachside weddings, among others -- but one thing they pledged not to raise was the city's tax rate.
I am a native of Miami old enough to know many of Paul George's stories first hand. He has a good reputation of relating Miami history to more recent arrivals, of which there are many.
A forum for candidates in the Florida House District 109 race will take place Thursday, July 24, at the Miami Dade College Meek Entrepreneurial Education Center, 6300 NW Seventh Ave.
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CRIME BLOTTER
MIAMI BEACH A vandal threw a bottle and smashed a window at an apartment in the 900 block of Pennsylvania Avenue and broke the mailbox between 9 and 11 p.m. July 6.
MIAMI BEACH
Before the sun comes up, Harold Fort and his teammates furiously row along the Intracoastal Waterway between Allison Island and Indian Creek Drive in Miami Beach. They are training for a competition that will pit them against world talents.
BEACH BUZZ | BY DEBRA LEIBOWITZ
Aventura resident Elie Neufeld wants you to vote for him. No, he's not a politician running for office. Rather, Neufeld is a competitive body builder and personal trainer at Olympia gym in Aventura.
BAL HARBOUR
Surfers might have to catch night-time waves somewhere else, after the Bal Harbour Village Council gave preliminary approval to a controversial measure prohibiting overnight parking at a popular surfing spot.
MIAMI BEACH
Miami Beach city commissioners have ratified more than a dozen recommendations aimed at regulating large developments. The action came Monday during a special growth management workshop at City Hall, and the commission directed city staff to draft ordinances that will put the 16 recommendations into effect.
CRIME BLOTTER
MIAMI BEACH A man kicked and broke three potted plants, tables and chairs in front of the Cardozo Hotel, 1300 Ocean Dr., at 3 a.m. July 10. An employee told police he was inside the hotel when he heard noise coming from the sidewalk. He then saw the man kicking the plants before running south on Ocean Drive. Damage was estimated at $3,000.
MIAMI BEACH
Miami Beach Capital Improvements Director Jorge Chartrand will be the guest of the next Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club, 8:30 to 10 a.m. at David's Cafe ll, 1654 Meridian Ave.
As a child in Bogota, Alexandra Suarez-Augustyniak learned early about the harsh realities of growing up in a divided society. ''In Colombia, there are two societies: the rich and the poor,'' said the Surfside artist, now 37. ``There were tough times when my family and I were broke and had no money.''
MIAMI BEACH
City leaders are raising fees and cutting services to close a budget gap, though they do not anticipate raising the property tax rate. Already angered by high parking costs? Metered parking in South Beach is about to go up by 25 cents an hour, to $1.25. And all those freebies handed out on the street? Vendors will have to pay the city $2,000 a pop to give away their products. Even as those costs increase, Miami Beach will have fewer city employees, shorter public pool hours and fewer cultural events in parks, after commissioners took their first pass at balancing Miami Beach's budget last week.
SURFSIDE
Surfside commissioners plan to raise the town's tax rate, slash employee pay raises and hike garbage pickup fees to balance their 2008-09 budget.
NORTH BAY VILLAGE
North Bay Village Mayor Joseph Geller said the city should consider raising taxes to help get dwindling revenues back in line with expenses. ''If our assessments are declining, then that's something that affects our tax rate,'' Geller said. ``We've got to look at that millage rate.''
