The South Florida Roundup

On The South Florida Roundup, we discussed the age and competency anxieties that are gripping this year’s presidential election, because if South Florida – America’s Senior Citizen Central – can’t address them, who can? (01:03) We also looked at the animal welfare and other concerns swirling around the Miami Seaquarium (19:01). And we talked with the daughter of the late Jamaican reggae legend Bob Marley, Sharon Marley, about the new biopic Bob Marley: One Love (34:35).

On The South Florida Roundup, we spoke to Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Peter Licata about how he’s adjusting to dramatically declining enrollment – and the growing competition that’s driving it (01:02). We also looked at the state legislature’s efforts to get sorely needed tourism workforce housing built in the Florida Keys (19:04). And we examined the case of Guatemalan migrant farmworker Virgilio Aguilar-Mendez, who community leaders insist was unjustly charged with a Florida police officer’s death (34:32).

On the South Florida Roundup, we looked at widening ethics investigations into Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’s lucrative moonlighting – and Democrats telling him to resign as he proposes city reforms (00:05). We also discussed an exclusive WLRN report about Florida’s anti-'woke' government finding something positive about diversity, equity and inclusion (17:50). And we examined Haiti’s new struggles against violent gang government as its real government faces a deadline to step down next week (33:36).

On The South Florida Roundup, we examined a rash of inmate deaths and suicides in Broward County’s jail facilities (01:03). We also looked at the city of Hialeah’s vote this week to stop the rental of recreational vehicles as residences — and what it says about our affordable housing crisis (18:56). And we discussed the new debate about the Cuba crisis. But this time it’s not about communism — it’s about capitalism (34:45).

In this episode of The South Florida Roundup we’ll look at bills in the new Florida state legislative session that would roll back gun control measures passed after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School six years ago (01:02). We also discussed last week’s cancellation of the South Florida Muslim Federation’s annual gathering at a Broward venue (18:51). And we asked what could be done about the record logjam of asylum cases in U.S. immigration courts like Miami’s (34:48).

On the South Florida Roundup, we discussed more 'Miami mess': the arrest of former Miami-Dade County School Board Vice Chair Lubby Navarro for allegedly stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the school system (01:03). We also talked to the makers of “Never Drop the Ball,” WLRN-TV’s new documentary about America’s pioneering 20th-century Negro baseball leagues (18:25). And we tried to make sense of the new outburst of narco-cartel violence plaguing Ecuador and Latin America (35:12).

In the first show of 2024, we discuss WLRN's investigation into Miami's hiring of the city manager’s wife for office remodeling. We look at a proposal to place homeless seniors and veterans into transitional housing in Cutler Bay that is being met with resistance (18:37). And we examine President Biden’s decision to free Venezuela’s alleged corruption mastermind, Alex Saab, from his Miami jail cell (35:29).

On the South Florida Roundup, we close out 2023 by looking at how tough the year was for South Florida’s most critical commodity: its environment. And that includes the Everglades, whose revival feels dangerously dormant (01:03). We also examine the face and the future of the Palestinians, both in Gaza and here, amid the brutal Israel-Hamas war (17:58). And we discuss new polls that suggest President Biden and the Democrats are in more trouble with Latino voters next year than they thought (34:00).

On The South Florida Roundup, with the year nearing its end, we look back at some stories that helped define 2023 in South Florida. First, education — and the often bitter debate here involving diversity, parental rights versus LGBTQ+ rights and book-banning (01:01). We also discuss how the affordable housing crisis finally took center stage across the region (18:01). And we examine the American immigration crisis — and the Latin American leaders, like Venezuela’s, who made it worse (33:04).

On the South Florida Roundup, we looked at the holiday edition of the Miami mess: embattled City Attorney Victoria Mendez gets to keep her job — for the moment — while the city commission corrects all the multi-million-dollar mistakes it’s made with the budget (01:01). We also spoke with Nancy Ancrum, the Miami Herald’s editorial page editor who is retiring after leading the paper to two Pulitzer Prizes (18:39). And we examined why Venezuela claims it should have two-thirds of neighboring Guyana (35:19).