Category: Miami, Florida Local News

On Feb. 11, the For U ticket, running for student body president, vice president and treasurer, pled liable to a minor infraction of campaigning before permitted and served a two-day ban on campaigning. 

With election season comes extensive campaigning from competing tickets. This year, the University of Miami has two tickets hoping to be elected. 

One is the UNITED campaign, led by presidential candidate Jaell-Ann (JJ) Auguste, vice presidential candidate Alex Barrowclough and treasurer candidate Grace Wheeling. The other is the For U campaign, led by presidential candidate Fernando Sepulveda Sagaseta, vice presidential candidate Aaron Gonzales and treasurer candidate Dylan Hall. 

As stated in the Supreme Court Trial Court Opinion, Sepulveda Sagaseta and Hall attended a National Pan-Hellenic Council meeting on Feb. 5, sparking discussion about whether this meeting violated campaign rules.

According to the official documentation from Trial Court, complaints argued that Sepulveda Sagaseta’s attendance at the meeting violated Chapter IV, Title 5, Section 3, Clauses 1 and 6 of the Election Codes. These clauses outline that tickets may only start campaigning on the official date listed in the Elections Calendar, and that “campaigning at student organizations meetings, including Greek Life … is permitted with the approval of the meeting organizer and the Elections Commission.” 

At Trial Court, Sepulveda Sagaseta discussed that this “meeting was pursuant to his official duties as Student Government Chief of Staff,” but he acknowledged that Hall’s presence and the topics discussed could appear as a violation. 

A source sent an anonymous tip to The Hurricane, claiming that Sepulveda Sagaseta discussed initiatives including “improving the relationship between Student Government and Greek Life, supporting NPCH through organizational plaques, suite upgrades, and SAFAC account access for each organization.”

While both parties are allowed to campaign at club and organization meetings around campus, they are limited to certain dates, as stated in the University of Miami Student Government Statutes.  

“Over the first few days of campaigning, our team was accused of multiple violations. As part of the standard process, all allegations are reviewed by the Elections Commission, and only one was ultimately forwarded for further review,” Sepulveda Sagaseta said in a statement to The Hurricane. 

Sagaseta stated that after speaking with their Student Government advisor, the team decided to accept the minor violation in order to continue campaigning on Thursday, Feb. 12. 

“Since then, we have taken additional precautions and have been in close communication with election leadership to ensure full compliance with all campaign regulations,” he said. 

According to the Student Government Statutes, in order for the Elections Commission to take action, the submission of a violation must “contain a complaint; have been filed against a current candidate, ticket, or referenda sponsor; be associated with at least one of the infractions outlined in Title 6, Section 1 of the Election codes and; contain accompanying evidence.” 

Once this occurs, the Elections Commission reserves the right to establish some sort of penalty based on the type of infraction. The categories for an infraction include a Major Infraction, Minor Infraction or Automatic Disqualification.

A penalty is decided at the discretion of the Trial Court, assuming the Elections Commission has established an infraction occurred.  All Trial Court decisions can be found in the University of Miami Student Government’s Public Records. 

“The UNITED Ticket has consistently upheld a fair election,” UNITED said in a statement to The Hurricane. “These sanctions do not extend to the UNITED Ticket, and we have remained dedicated to the student body we seek to represent. Our ticket is committed to collaborating closely with all branches of student government to ensure that election violations are thoroughly investigated and appropriately addressed.”

Voting will take place from Monday, Feb. 16, until Wednesday, Feb. 18. Students will be able to vote through Engage for online voting, or in the UC Breezeway from 12:30-3:30 p.m. for in-person voting. 

Katie Karlson contributed to the reporting of this article.

The University of Miami men’s tennis team won 4-3 against the South Florida Bulls on Tuesday afternoon at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.

With the victory, the Hurricanes (6-3) gain their sixth win at home on the season as well as increase their home winning streak to 19, which goes back to Jan. 13, 2025. 

UM started off their day by securing the doubles point. The pair of Spanish seniors, Antonio Prat and Nacho Serra Sanchez, got the opening 6-2 win against James Newton and Max Mroz. The Canes then clinched the doubles point when Rafael Segado and Jules Garot defeated Stepan Mruzek and Timeo Gaillard, 6-4. When play was halted, Miami was leading in a tough court one matchup with Mehdi Sadaoui and Jakub Kroslak leading 6-5 over Hugo Car and Ettore Danesi.

Moving on to singles, No. 95 Prat opened things with the ranked win on court one over No. 119 Car, 6-1, 6-4. Garot then put the Canes within a point of victory with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Gaillard. However, USF did not go without a fight as they notched wins from Mruzek over Kroslak, 0-6, 7-5, 6-3, followed by a 6-4, 6-4 win from Danesi over Sadaoui.

The comeback by the Bulls (1-6) would be stopped short as Segado clinched the match on court five, defeating Newton in a back-and-forth second set for the 6-1, 7-6 (5) win. After the clinching victory, No. 112 Elijah Cham bested Serra Sanchez in two hard-fought sets, winning 5-7, 5-7.

The Hurricanes will be back on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 12:00 p.m. to host FGCU (1-6) at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Highlights from a trove of more than 200 love letters that tell the story of a couple’s courtship and marriage during World War II are now on display digitally through the Nashville Public Library, offering an intimate picture of love during wartime.

The letters by William Raymond Whittaker and Jane Dean were found in a Nashville home that had belonged to Jane and her siblings. They were donated in 2016 to the Metro Nashville Archives.

Whittaker, who went by Ray, was from New Rochelle, New York. He moved to the Tennessee capital to attend the historically Black Meharry Medical College, according to the library’s metropolitan archivist, Kelley Sirko. That’s where he met and dated Jane, another student at the college.

The pair lost touch when Ray left Nashville. In the summer of 1942 he was drafted into the Army. Stationed at Fort Huachuca in Arizona, he decided to reestablish contact with Jane, who was then working as a medical lab technician at Vanderbilt University.

A ‘pleasant and sad surprise’

The library doesn’t have Ray’s first letter to Jane, but it does have her reply. She greets him somewhat formally as “Dear Wm R.”

“It sure was a pleasant and sad surprise to hear from you,” she writes on July 30, 1942. “Pleasant because you will always hold a place in my heart and its nice to know you think of me once in a while. Sad because you are in the armed forces — maybe I shouldn’t say that but war is so uncertain, however I’m proud to know that you are doing your bit for your country.”

Jane then goes on to list — perhaps as a hint? — a string of mutual acquaintances who have gotten married recently, noting those who have had children or are rumored to be having children. She signs off, “Write, wire or call me real soon — Lovingly Jane.”

A story told in letters

“You can’t help but smile when you read through these letters,” Sirko said. “You really can’t. And this was just such an intimate look at two regular people during a really complicated time in our history.”

Sirko said Nashville archivists have not been able to locate any living relatives of Ray and Jane, so most of what they know about them is from the letters. The couple did not have any children, according to an obituary for Ray, who died in Nashville in 1989.

The donation also included a few photographs and Ray’s patch from the historically Black fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha.

Beyond a love story, the collection gives “this in-the-moment perspective of … what it’s like just navigating certain racial issues, certain gender issues, their work, the life of a soldier, all of these things,” Sirko said. That’s why the archivists wanted to make it more accessible to the public.

Love and doubts

Just two months after the first letters, the romance has heated up. Ray has been assigned to Fort McClellan in Alabama, where he will help organize the reactivated — and segregated — 92nd Infantry Division, which went on to see combat in Europe.

In an undated letter from September 1942, he tells Jane, “I have something very important to tell you when I do see you and you will be surprise to know as to what it is.

“I might even ask you to marry me. One never knows.”

He teases her by saying that if he goes to officer training school, he will be able to “draw down a fat juicey salary” — about $280 a month if he is married and $175 if single.

“Really I can’t leave my excess amount of money to the government and must have someone to help me spend it,” he writes.

At first Jane is skeptical. “What makes you think you still love me?” she asks on Sept. 23. “Is it that you are lonesome and a long way from home. I’m sure I want you to love me but not under those conditions.”

A Sept. 24 letter from Ray is more serious. “Events are changing so rapidly these days that one can’t really plan for the future. But I am going to make a decisive decision in matters of most importances,” he writes.

Ray says that he had thought he and Jane could not be together because they lived so far apart. He says he dated other women but “I didn’t find the companionship and love that I so dearly wanted to find. All I ran into was trouble and more trouble.”

A ‘darling husband’

Soon Ray wins her over, and they are married on Nov. 7 in Birmingham.

In a letter from Nov. 9, Jane addresses Ray as “my darling husband.” She is rapturous about the marriage but sad that the couple has to remain apart for now. She has already returned to her job and family in Nashville while he has returned to the Army base.

“It’s a wonderful thing to have such a sweet and lovely husband. Darling you’ll never know how much I love you. The only regret is that we didn’t marry years ago… As it is now things are so uncertain and we are not together but such a few happy hours. But maybe this old war will soon be over and we can be together for always.”

She concludes, “Darling be sweet and write to me soon. I want a letter from my husband. Remember I’ll always love you. Always — from Your Wife”

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) – Newly released photos and interrogation videos are providing a closer look at the tragic triple murder that occurred in a quiet Tamarac neighborhood last year.

Prosecutors released the new evidence on Wednesday, showing Nathan Gingles, the man accused of carrying out the three murders, speaking with detectives following his arrest, as well as various photos from the crime scene.

According to investigators, the violent night began in the early morning hours of Feb. 16, 2025, when Nathan showed up at his estranged wife, Mary’s, home and fatally shot his former father-in-law, David Ponzer. Deputies say Ponzer was drinking his morning coffee when he encountered the suspect and was shot in the head.

Photos show a shattered coffee cup on bloodstained concrete, marking the spot where he was killed.

Detectives say Gingles then chased his Mary, through the neighborhood, ultimately fatally shooting her. Moments later, he allegedly killed Andrew Ferrin, a neighbor who opened his front door to help after hearing the gunfire and screams.

Moments after the alleged killings, surveillance video captures Nathan walking down the street with his 6-year-old daughter, Seraphina.

Authorities ultimately arrested Nathan hours later at a nearby Walmart, where he was shopping with his daughter.

Photos released by prosecutors show him inside the store just before his arrest, pushing a shopping cart filled with snacks, water, and children’s clothing. Other images show him handcuffed in a patrol car shortly after his arrest.

Immediately following his arrest, prosecutors released the interrogation video of Nathan speaking to deputies. He is seen being ordered to stand up as another deputy shackles his legs.

Throughout the interrogation video, Nathan is seen cuffed and shackled, even waiting for long periods of time between his brief interactions and visits from detectives and other law enforcement officials.

At one point during the interrogation, an official is talking about getting his side of the story when Nathan requests a lawyer.

“We want to talk about what’s going on this morning. We want to hear your side of the story. We just — we’re only seeing one side, and we want to hear from you,” said a female official.

After reading him his rights, Nathan said, “I’d like to request an attorney.”

Despite not speaking with detectives, investigators photographed him, collected his clothing for evidence, fingerprinted him, and placed him in disposable coveralls. In total, he waited nearly 14 hours before being transferred to the Broward County Jail.

“You’re being charged with three counts of first-degree murder. So you’re going down to the main jail, OK?” said a male detective.

Nathan nodded his head.

Days later, a judge granted custody of Seraphina to her maternal aunt and ordered Nathan to have no contact with his child.

In a recorded jail call, Gingles criticized the custody decision and claimed the county was targeting his family.

“They’re just gonna…traffic my daughter. That’s what Broward is known for, child trafficking,” Gingles said in the call.

During the call, he also detailed what he would do in the following hours.

“Just keep my head down and- uh- wait until the first issue gets settled and then I’ll start worrying about my case,” he said.

Nathan remains behind bars as he awaits trial. He is expected to return to court for a status hearing in the coming weeks.

Copyright 2025 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Some huge video game news has the University of Miami’s competitive esports team buzzing. 

Five new heroes, a new focus on annual story arcs, and a “Hello Kitty” collaboration were among the transformative changes announced by videogame developer Blizzard at its 2026 Overwatch Spotlight on Feb. 4.

“But our key focus this year is how we can evolve what it means to play an Overwatch game,”  Aaron Keller, Overwatch’s Game Director, said at the Overwatch Spotlight event “There are so many things coming to Overwatch this year we can’t even fit it into this Spotlight.”

With the first season of this new chapter for Overwatch released on Feb. 10, Blizzard’s plans will change the fabric of Overwatch and force the ’Canes to adjust their strategy for the Spring 2026 collegiate esports season. A few of them are excited to play the new heroes.

“I feel like it’s Blizzard’s message to the community that it’s ready to go all in on Overwatch,” said Anthony Crespo, one of two team captains for UM’s eSports team. “There are a lot of exciting heroes and changes that will refresh the game over the coming months, and a roadmap of future content to keep everyone interested.”

Crespo and his co-captain, Randy Advincula, will, however, assess how this will affect their season. 

The new heroes will be locked behind the PlayVS College League’s two-week rule, which prevents new heroes from being playable until two weeks after official release.

“We’re going to have two weeks to plan strategies for our teams, but it’s going to be crazy,” Crespo said. “With new heroes, perk changes, map changes, and most likely some balance changes, it’s going to be chaos.”

While the delay in hero releases will give the ’Canes time to prepare, they will have to adjust quickly to other changes to the game. Perks, or in-game upgrades to heroes, and maps are all being updated in the new update. 

Subroles, labels given to certain heroes to denote their purposes and which come with an extra ability, are also a new addition to Overwatch that the ‘Canes will have to consider. 

There will be two games played before the end of the two-week period for UM eSports.

“New heroes and subroles are a lot, and it’ll give an advantage to those who can adapt and learn quickly, something Overwatch has been missing for a while,” Advincula said. “We will have to keep in mind to test new stuff in our scrims while still practicing old strategies in the meantime.”

I have spent my career working in and around economic development, and what has always been clear to me is that growth only matters if people actually see it in their daily lives.

Miami-Dade County is reaching an inflection point where residents not only see it, but they also feel it. 

New companies are arriving. Jobs are being created. Neighborhoods are changing. For some residents, that growth brings opportunity and optimism. For others, it raises questions about access, affordability, and how growth is experienced across the community.

That raises a simple but important question: who makes sure growth works for the people who live and work here?

For the past 40 years, one organization has quietly played that role: The Miami-Dade Beacon Council.

The Beacon Council is the county’s official economic development organization. Our job is to attract investment, create quality jobs, and strengthen Miami-Dade’s long-term competitiveness — while working across business, government, education, and community partners to ensure growth is durable, meaningful, and sustainable.

In the last year alone, Beacon-supported projects helped generate more than $1.2 billion in private investment, create thousands of new jobs, and deliver millions in new tax revenue that support public services like schools, infrastructure, and transit. These aren’t just financial wins. They are wins that translate into real opportunities for companies expanding here, for workers building careers, and for neighborhoods benefiting from sustained investment.

But economic development today is about more than announcements or ribbon cuttings and the headlines they garner.

It’s about the young professional who can build a career in finance or technology without leaving Miami.

It’s about the parent who can work closer to home because a global company chose to locate its offices in their neighborhood.

And it’s about small businesses, the backbone of our economy, that want to grow alongside Miami’s success, not be pushed to the margins by it.

Miami-Dade has arrived at that inflection point while positioning itself on the global stage. Growth alone won’t determine our future; the choices we make today will. Without coordination, growth can bypass local talent, small businesses can get squeezed out, and opportunity can become more difficult to reach.

That’s why The Beacon Council’s work has evolved.

Attracting companies remains essential. But today, the bigger challenge is building the systems that allow growth to last. The Miami-Dade Beacon Council is focused on three priorities shaping the next chapter of our economy: talent, small business growth, and data-driven insight.

This month, that focus begins with small businesses.

Small businesses are the foundation of Miami-Dade’s economy, yet many face rising costs, limited access to capital, and fragmented support. As growth accelerates, scaling can feel out of reach even as opportunity grows all around them.

That’s why, at its recent Annual Meeting, The Beacon Council announced its new stewardship of Strive305, a small business initiative launched under Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. Building on that foundation, Beacon is strengthening the ecosystem around small businesses — connecting entrepreneurs to partners, customers, talent, and opportunities so growth is something they can participate in, not something that happens around them.

This work isn’t about replacing what already exists. It’s about coordinating efforts, closing gaps, and helping small businesses move from survival to scale.

What makes The Beacon Council different is not just what we do, but how we do it.

The Beacon Council is the only organization in Miami-Dade focused full-time on aligning business, government, education, and community around economic outcomes. We are not a lobbying organization. We don’t represent one industry or one political administration. For four decades, The Beacon Council has convened leaders across sectors at a common table, focused on results, not headlines.

Today, The Beacon Council is expanding capacity and opening new ways for local businesses and organizations to engage whether that means mentoring an entrepreneur, connecting to talent pipelines, participating in small business networks, or helping shape the strategies guiding our economy. (More on how we are connecting and uplifting with small businesses in upcoming issues of this series.) 

There’s no question that we need to build it together – with intention, coordination, and opportunity at the center. What we build together will outlast this moment.

Economic development is not something done to a community, it’s something built with it. The work of strengthening Miami-Dade’s economy depends on collaboration among residents, businesses, educators, and civic leaders. The Beacon Council exists to help connect those efforts, align priorities, and ensure growth creates real opportunity across our county. 

In the months ahead, this column will explore how our economy is changing and challenging all of us to take part in shaping the decisions that will define what comes next.

This is an open invitation for everyone in our community to engage in shaping the future of Miami-Dade County. 

¡Juntos ganamos!

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Miami’s FIFA World Cup 2026 host committee is battling challenges as it seeks private support to meet its funding commitment for seven World Cup matches to be held in Miami-Dade in June and July, the committee’s president and CEO told Miami-Dade commissioners last week.

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A Miami Marine Stadium management deal is back before city officials, with a five-year contract proposed for Global Spectrum L.P. and a possible August referendum asking voters to approve a 40-year term, giving the city 93% of event profits and $10 million for restoration.

Miami commissioners today on February 2 are to discuss two related items: a five-year agreement with Global Spectrum L.P. to manage the Marine Stadium, Virginia Key Center and Flex Park, and a ballot question that would allow voters to approve a contract of up to 40 years.

Together, the measures would create a management structure for a site that has lacked a dedicated operator for decades and outline the financial framework for restoring and programming the historic stadium.

Miami has sought a permanent operator for Marine Stadium for more than 30 years. Built in 1963 as the first U.S. stadium designed for powerboat racing, the venue closed after Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Over the decades, the city has explored multiple proposals to restore and reactivate it, but efforts have repeatedly stalled.

Under the proposal, Global Spectrum would operate the stadium, the adjacent Virginia Key Center and Flex Park under a five-year management agreement while negotiating the long-term contract. The company would oversee programming, maintenance and event operations, including concerts, performances and community activities. The proposal also anticipates up to three ten-year renewal options, potentially extending the contract to 40 years, subject to voter approval.

Financially, the referendum lays out a detailed revenue structure. The city would receive 93% of gross event sales after deducting a $33,333 monthly management fee; 85% of sponsorship revenues, and up to $10 million in capital contributions toward restoration. Global Spectrum would collect a base management fee and incentive fees, including 7% of gross event and food and beverage sales and 15% of sponsorship and premium seating revenue.

The five-year agreement would allow the city to begin operations while seeking voter approval for the longer-term arrangement required under the city charter. City rules limit waterfront management agreements to five years unless voters approve a longer term. If approved, the question would go to voters in the Aug. 18 City of Miami special election.

The proposal revives plans with Global Spectrum that were scheduled to come before the commission in September 2025 but were delayed. That meeting was intended to allow commissioners to approve a ballot question sending the long-term deal to voters in November, but the session was canceled due to a lack of quorum, with only two of five commissioners present.

At the time, news reports also noted legal issues involving Tim Leiweke, the former CEO of Oak View Group, Global Spectrum’s parent company, who was indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2025 alleging conspiracy to rig the bidding process at an arena at the University of Texas. He later stepped down, and the company has reorganized its leadership.

If commissioners approve the items this week, the referendum would go to voters in August, setting the stage for long-term activation of the Marine Stadium.

Miami-Dade’s bus rapid transit, Metro Express, continues to be refined to meet target travel times and improve traffic signal preemption and priority while the service expands with a park-and-ride, an operations center and the South Dade Intermodal Station Project.

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Miami officials this week are to revisit proposals tied to a long-dormant 18-acre city lot in Allapattah, a site planners say could help drive economic growth and add workforce housing if redevelopment finally moves forward.

The city commission is expected to discuss unsolicited proposals for the city-owned General Services Administration, or GSA, lot at 1970 NW 13th Ave., and could direct staff to review all offers and report back within 30 days. A related item would change city code to require unsolicited proposals for public land to be brought to commissioners more quickly for review.

Across Miami, tracts of publicly owned land remain underused while the city faces rising housing costs and growing pressure to activate vacant or industrial properties. The GSA site has long been viewed as a prime redevelopment opportunity. It houses several municipal operations, including the solid waste department, public works, parks and recreation, and Fire Station 5, but much of the land remains undeveloped.

In September 2022, Miami-based developer NR Investments submitted an unsolicited proposal to transform the site into a large mixed-use project. The concept included roughly 2,500 apartments, including 500 workforce units, along with office space, retail, a hotel, community facilities and about five acres of public green space.

The proposal outlined a multi-phase buildout over 10 to 15 years and projected significant public benefits. According to the developer, the project could generate about $1.5 billion in payments to the city over a 99-year ground lease and roughly $3.2 billion in additional real estate tax revenue over the period, along with new infrastructure, civic spaces and transit-oriented development.

That unsolicited offer prompted the city to formally request proposals that year, but no contract has been awarded and plans for the site have largely stalled.

Plans from the Omni Community Redevelopment Agency, which focuses on reinvestment and housing in parts of Miami’s urban core, highlight the potential of the GSA lot. A 2023 CRA update summarizing public feedback showed strong support for redeveloping the site, which the agency lists as one of its seven-year priority projects.

The agency described the GSA lot as a crucial driver for economic development and a way to boost the city’s supply of workforce housing. Its analysis found the property met state “blight” criteria, making it eligible for tax increment financing to help fund improvements.

The item sponsored by Commissioner Miguel Gabela, whose district includes Allapattah, would direct the city manager to review all unsolicited proposals received for the lot and report to the commission within 30 days.

A second measure would amend city code to alter how unsolicited proposals are handled. It would require the city manager to place an item on the next available commission agenda after receiving a qualifying unsolicited proposal, rather than only when the city is ready to make a deal.

Supporters say the change would increase transparency and prevent proposals from sitting idle, while also helping the city move more quickly on underused public land.

If approved, the two measures could help revive long-stalled plans for the GSA site and set new ground rules for how future unsolicited development proposals are reviewed across Miami.

Miami Beach aims to expand the free water taxi it launched last month, adding pickup and drop-off spots and increasing frequency.

About 900 passengers have boarded daily since the Jan. 20 launch, said Transportation and Mobility Director Jose Gonzalez. The taxis currently glide across the bay Monday through Friday from Miami Beach at Maurice Gibb Memorial Park to Miami at Venetian Marina & Yacht Club, sailing hourly from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and every 30 minutes from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.

“At this time, we’re providing regional service connecting two cities, City of Miami Beach and the City of Miami,” he said. “We do have plans to expand that service and be able to provide service along the western coast of our city to connect South Beach, Mid Beach and North Beach as well as penetrating the Indian Creek waterway within our city and also expanding to other points on the mainland as well.”

Mayor Steven Meiner called the water taxi a success, saying they’ve had to turn away passengers during peak times due to lack of capacity.

“I think we’re always looking to expand and I think we’re adapting as we go and the success keeps building on itself because it’s generating a tremendous amount of excitement – I see it; I hear it,” Mr. Meiner said. “Obviously our residents can utilize it to help with mobility, our tourists love it, it’s a way to be out on the water doing something fun and it helps ease congestion on our roads. It’s efficient, it’s good for the environment, so it’s a win-win across the board.”

What’s limiting expansion, Mr. Gonzalez said, is money. The water taxi is funded in partnership with the Florida Department of Transportation, which pays half the operating cost.

“We do hope that more of our transportation partners and our neighboring cities will hop on board, no pun intended,” he said, “and help the City of Miami Beach be able to expand this service and serve other communities as well.”

During this week’s city commission meeting, Coral Gables city officials voted for a Florida statute to prohibit all electric and motorized bicycles on city sidewalks.

 The use of electric bicycles has become increasingly widespread in Coral Gables and its surrounding areas, including Miracle Mile, over the last few years, according to the city administration.

 The item, which was approved on first reading at the Jan. 27 commission meeting, prohibits scooters and bicycles equipped with a motor and reaching a speed of up to 20 miles per hour, and micromobility devices typically 20 to 36 inches in width, weighing up to 50 pounds, and operating at a speed of up to 28 miles per hour. The only exception will be on-duty law enforcement operators.

The city continues to work closely with its lobbying team and with the chiefs on efforts in Tallahassee regarding the same subject, city staff told the city commission during the approval of the item.

These film permits were issued last week by the Miami-Dade County Department of Regulatory & Economic Resources’ Office of Film and Entertainment, (305) 375-3288; the Miami Mayor’s Office of Film, Arts & Entertainment, (305) 860-3823; and the Miami Beach Office of Arts, Culture and Entertainment-Film and Print Division, (305) 673-7070.

• Ntropic, San Francisco. Commercial for Ntropic Avalere Health. Crandon Park Tennis Center, Matheson Hammock Park, Rickenbacker Causeway.

• Paradise Custom Drone Solutions, Miami. Still photography for Drone Shoot for South Bulkhead Repair Bays. Port of Miami.

• Select Services, Miami. Still photography for Hanna Anderson. Crandon Park Beach, Haulover Park.

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