ESTEBAN BOVO

Firefighters are responding to a “partial building collapse” in Hialeah, according to a tweet from the Hialeah Fire Department.

Sen. Marco Rubio shared photos Monday of a bloodied election canvasser who was beaten in South Florida while wearing one of his campaign shirts, an attack he alleged was politically motivated.

Longtime Miami resident and highly experienced public servant Alina Garcia is extremely well-qualified and ready to serve as State Representative for District 115 of the Florida House of Representatives. We have witnessed how this small-business owner with 30 years of community involvement and leadership strives for excellence in everything she sets out to accomplish. For this and much more, we endorse Garcia in this key election. House District 115 covers a diverse portion of Miami-Dade, including the coastal municipalities of Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, and the unincorporated neighborhoods of The Falls, Kendall, and Westchester. Because she has devoted her entire adult life to the betterment of the community she loves – and is what is needed for the state of Florida and the people of her district, the Community Newspapers endorses Alina Garcia for the seat representing House District 115.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Election Day was unusually smooth as voters headed to the polls across Miami Dade County, likely due to what’s been a record breaking turnout. More than a million Miami-Dade voters had already cast their ballot via mail-in ballot or early voting when the poll in Hialeah opened, according to the deputy supervisor at the Miami-Dade County Elections Department. Meet Miami-Dade County voter Diane Johnson - spotted her dancing out of North Dade Regional Library. In 2016, voters in Miami-Dade County overwhelmingly voted for Hillary Clinton. This time in early voting, Democrats in Miami-Dade lead by a little more than 100,000 votes, but more than 277,000 Independents voted early.

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Daniella Levine Cava made history Tuesday night as she became Miami-Dade County’s first female mayor and the first non-Cuban Mayor since Stephen Clark in the early 1990s. Her Republican opponent Esteban “Steve” Bovo who lost to the Democrat said that Cava’s campaign “did an effective job of making the race partisan and kudos to them.” But he did wish the new mayor success. Cava is also the first new mayor in nine years replacing term-limited Carlos Giménez who won his race Tuesday defeating Debbie Mucarsel-Powell for Florida’s 26th Congressional District. Cava said she will not be partisan, but will be a mayor for all 2.7 million of Miami-Dade County’s residents. See below for live results as the ballots are counted on Election Night, Nov. 3:Cava said she is going to work hard to restore the county’s economy and its health.

AVENTURA, Fla. City of Aventura Mayor Enid Weisman called the construction of the $76 million Brightline trains Aventura Mall station a gamechanger during a ground breaking on Thursday. There will also be a pedestrian bridge built that will lead directly to Aventura Mall. A rendering of the Brightline Aventura Mall train station on West Dixie Highway. The vote to go forward with the new train station by Miami-Dade County Commissioners was a contentious one. The Brightline Aventura Mall station was to have been completed by October of 2020, but then was hampered by delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

MIAMI, Fla. South Florida continues to be a hotspot in the coronavirus pandemic that's surging in the United States. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimnez talked to a national audience on Sunday on ABCs Good Morning America, speaking about the new $100 civil penalty for breaking county mask and social distancing rules. Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo Freddy Ramrez, speaking on Local 10s This Week In South Florida, said about 115 citations were issued and now that it is a civil citation and not a criminal offense, enforcement is more in line with the crime. Miami-Dade County Commissioner Esteban Bovo, who is running to unseat Gimenez as the countys mayor, blames local case rises on young adults. Monroe County Mayor Heather Carruthers, said: "We are trying to do everything we can to limit the chance to gather in groups when one's inhibitions may be down."

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. For some people, fireworks arent enough to celebrate the Fourth of July. Its a dangerous practice that can kill people, because innocent bystanders can get hit by falling bullets. What goes up must come down and we have to stop the celebratory shooting, added James Dobson, chief of the Opa-locka Police Department. One bullet may kill. Police say they are increasing patrols in an effort to curb the celebratory gunfire.

Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez has come under fire for his response to the coronavirus pandemic. But the emails praising the mayor were submitted to the city clerk's office without addresses. A search of Nexis, a public-records database used by journalists and researchers, yielded hundreds of Pedro Sanchezes with Miami-Dade addresses and dozens with current or former Hialeah addresses. Ramon Castellanos, a records custodian, said the department couldn't locate any registered voters with the email addresses provided. Mayor Hernandez laughed off the criticism that the emails were fake or authored by him or one of his supporters.

Before March, if you kept a box of rubber gloves at home, you were almost certainly a serial killer. Yes, we're all trying to learn the rules of pandemic-era best practices politicians included. But a number of elected officials in Florida have very publicly been examples of what not to do if you're trying to stop the spread of a deadly virus. But if you're an elected official trying to lead your community through a global health crisis, maybe don't stick your grimy gloves all over your mug when the cameras are rolling. And God forbid, don't post a video of it on your own social media channels.

But one thing some Miami-Dade leaders seem to know for sure is that Cuba must be responsible at least in part for the surge of COVID-19 cases in South Florida, particularly in Hialeah. Because Miami: Cuba Coronavirus EditionInvoking the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis, County Commissioner Javier Souto suggests Cuba May be weaponizing the Coronavirus and delivering it to Miami. And last week, travel between the two countries became even more difficult when Cuba suspended all international flights to curb the spread of COVID-19. At the county's meeting, Mayor Carlos Gimenez and several commissioners said the Cuban government can't be trusted to report true numbers of COVID-19 cases. From February 1 until April 2 when Cuba suspended all flights amid the coronavirus crisis MIA received 1,017 planes carrying 116,160 passengers from the island.

The Town of Cutler Bay conducted its annual State of the Town Address on Dec. 11, the first hosted by Mayor Tim Meerbott since taking office. Town Hall was filled with residents, town staff and council members, as well as other invited guests and VIP representatives. Among the other officials present were former Cutler Bay Vice Mayor Ernest Sochin, Pinecrest Mayor Joseph M. Corradino, Palmetto Bay Mayor Karyn Cunningham, newly elected Homestead Mayor Steven D. Losner and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava. Our residents have planted their roots here, making Cutler Bay their forever home, Mayor Meerbott said. Mayor Meerbott looked ahead to future challenges for the town, such as traffic, lack of mass transit and the concern for overdevelopment.

On Friday, November 1st, my office hosted two Sunshine Meetings at Miami City Hall to discuss the potential of bringing Tri-Rail to the areas of Poinciana Park, Liberty City, Lemon City, and Midtown. Others present included the executive director of the Wynwood BID (Business Improvement District) and owners of property in Wynwood, Midtown, and Lemon City. Let me explain why these three neighborhoods are interested in a using the Tri-Rail line for a commuter train. Buttressed by that deal, it becomes a fait accompli that residents of Lemon City, Little Haiti, Liberty City and Hialeah are now connected by rail to downtown Miami. It is time for the county to learn from the city how to do public transit.

The United States Census is also an essential aspect of our national growth, where every ten years all of our people are counted. So, on April 1st of this year National Census Day the process will officially begin for 2020. The Census is not designed to be punitive; it is a constitutional mandate that ensures a complete count of all our people. It is a fundamental aspect of living in the United States no matter your status. For the first time our business community is engaging in the Census process and we need your help in spreading the word and doing our part.

The United States Census is also an essential aspect of our national growth, where every ten years all of our people are counted. So, on April 1st of this year National Census Day the process will officially begin for 2020. The Census is not designed to be punitive; it is a constitutional mandate that ensures a complete count of all our people. It is a fundamental aspect of living in the United States no matter your status. For the first time our business community is engaging in the Census process and we need your help in spreading the word and doing our part.

The United States Census is also an essential aspect of our national growth, where every ten years all of our people are counted. So, on April 1st of this year National Census Day the process will officially begin for 2020. The Census is not designed to be punitive; it is a constitutional mandate that ensures a complete count of all our people. It is a fundamental aspect of living in the United States no matter your status. For the first time our business community is engaging in the Census process and we need your help in spreading the word and doing our part.

According to a photograph published on a little-followed Twitter account, Miami-Dade County Commission Chair Esteban Bovo one of the stronger candidates in the 2020 county mayoral race gave former White House Communications Director Sarah Huckabee Sanders a plaque welcoming her to Miami-Dade and listing the infamous liar as a "distinguished visitor." Humbled to speak at the American Priority Prayer Breakfast & present a Distinguished Visitor proclamation from #OurCounty to @SHSanders45 & @AlvedaCKing. pic.twitter.com/zuCnT7GKn8 Steve Bovo (@SteveBovo) October 12, 2019Neither Bovo nor members of his staff responded to a message from New Times yesterday. But Bovo posted photos of the welcome plaque on his personal Twitter account, @SteveBovo, which has fewer than 300 followers. It's unclear how grinning alongside one of Trump's most notorious propagandists and defenders will win Bovo new fans among anyone outside of the reddest sectors of Miami-Dade County.

MIAMI-DADE, Fla - After a contentious vote that failed before it passed, Miami-Dade County will get its second Virgin-owned Brightline train station in one of the most congested areas of northeast Miami-Dade County. Commissioners passed the land swap and development deal, which will pay Brightline $76 million to build the station near its tracks west of the Aventura Mall, and operate new commuter rail service. Mayor Carlos Gimenez told commissioners the money would not hinder any other county transportation plans, and would likely create more revenue through real estate development. Some wondered whether the service would function as a true commuter rail that people would choose over their cars. Commissioner Esteban Bovo, a longtime supporter of commuter rail, is on board.

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. - It was pretty busy Saturday morning at Norman & Jean Reach Park on Northwest 176th Street in Miami-Dade County as no proof of residency was required to pick up sandbags. Miami-Dade County workers and volunteers were on hand to shovel the sand into orange bags and put the bags in the back of people's cars. The line extended from around the corner and into the park. Workers said they expect to give away about 1,500 bags of sand throughout the day. Jeanette Nunez was at the park in the morning, along with Florida state Sen. Manny Diaz and Miami-Dade Commissioner Esteban Bovo.