Water taxi, Amazon fallout, Messi’s coach. Catch up on today’s top Miami stories

A free water taxi in Miami Beach and a potential multimillion-dollar bill for Amazon are among the top stories from the Miami Herald on Friday.

Catch up with these summaries and more, and follow the links to the original coverage:

• A 95-year-old former Coral Park Elementary teacher named Philip Spevak published his first children’s book, “Pheepser’s Sunfish Shenanigan,” based on a classroom event from the 1970s. Former students have since reconnected with him, and his book is being used by a hospital volunteer to read to children in comas.

• Draft rules from the U.S. Department of Education could fast-track federal recognition of Florida’s new “ideology-free” college accreditor. State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues said the changes could allow recognition by the end of next year, ahead of the original 2028 target.

• Miami-Dade County commissioners advanced legislation to pursue as much as $2.6 million in penalties from Amazon for closing a Homestead warehouse that employed about 1,000 people less than two years after it opened on county-owned land. A 2020 agreement includes an $8,000 penalty for every missing job below a promised 325.

• Miami Beach’s free water taxi has averaged more than 1,000 riders a day since launching in January, a sharp contrast to a previous attempt that drew just 43 riders per day during one stretch in 2024. The boat runs on weekdays between Maurice Gibb Memorial Park and the Venetian Marina.

• Inter Miami named Guillermo Hoyos as interim head coach after Javier Mascherano’s unexpected resignation. Hoyos, 62, has known Lionel Messi for 23 years, dating to their time together at FC Barcelona’s youth academy.

This report was produced with the assistance of a proprietary tool powered by artificial intelligence and using our own originally reported, written and published content. It was reviewed and edited by our journalists.