MIAMI-DADE

As Nikolas Cruz enters the third week of his sentencing trial for the Parkland school massacre, his biological sister sits in a Miami-Dade jail on a carjacking charge — and her upcoming trial may now be complicated by his.

Less than eight weeks ago, the Florida Department of Health reported the state’s first presumptive case of monkeypox — a viral disease that was once rare in the United States.

In Miami-Dade, the clearance rate for homicides in 2020 was 43%

A Miami-Dade cop has been put on desk duty and is under investigation after a video of him telling a Black man “this is how...

Miami-Dade police officer under investigation for traffic stop comment File photo. (m-gucci/Getty Images/iStockphoto)MIAMI — A man’s video of his interaction with a Miami-Dade police officer during a traffic stop has led to an investigation because of some comments made by the officer. Nicolas told WPLG that he feared for his life at the moment, and that the officer had also grabbed the keys out of his car’s ignition. “I can’t stop thinking about it,” Nicolas told the station. The department added that the officer involved was moved to desk duty.

A veteran Miami-Dade police officer is being investigated after video surfaced of him telling a Black man who questioned why he’d been pulled over, “this is how you guys get killed out here, man.”

A Miami-Dade police officer fatally shot a man who called 911 and warned he was going to kill someone if officers didn't respond immediately to his location.

A relationship between a Miami-Dade teacher and a 16-year-old in England began with a comment on a cat photo online before blossoming into homework help and Harry Potter reading sessions, police say — but that wasn’t it.

Police have made another arrest over the balloon-popping incident in Biscayne Bay.

Christopher Rolon, 29, Kirk Walton, 34, and Ronald Connor, 24, are each charged with murder.

MIAMI — (AP) — A jury took just over an hour to convict a Miami-Dade officer of felony battery and official misconduct in the rough arrest of a Black woman who had called police for help. If the arrest is unlawful, they have no more rights than the rest of us. The jury consisted of two Black women, one Hispanic woman and three Hispanic men. The conviction of North Miami police Officer Jonathon Aledda was overturned by an appeals court in February. The arrest report inaccurately said that Loving was “causing a scene” and was being “uncooperative,” prosecutors said.

A jury took just over an hour to convict a Miami-Dade officer of felony battery and official misconduct in the rough arrest of a Black woman who had called police for help in 2019.

A jury took just over an hour to convict a Miami-Dade officer of felony battery and official misconduct in the rough arrest of a Black woman who had called police for help. Alejandro Giraldo was suspended after cellphone video circulated on social media in March 2019 showing him tackling Dyma Loving, who had called police to report that a neighbor had pointed a shotgun at her.

Florida mother accused of killing two children Booking photo of Odette Lysse Joassaint, who allegedly told officers, “Come get them, I don’t want them anymore,” referring to her children. (Miami-Dade Department of Corrections)MIAMI — A Florida woman was arrested after police said they responded to 911 calls and found her children dead in their Miami home. “The female seemed irate, she seemed like her mind wasn’t correct,” Miami police officer Michael Vega told WFOR. Police said the woman, identified as Odette Lysse Joassaint, told officers, “Come get them, I don’t want them anymore,” referring to her children, WFOR reported. Odette Joassaint was charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

The shooting occurred shortly before noon at a western Miami-Dade home, according to a police news release. Miami-Dade police officers had been assisting Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Marshals Service when they took a 53-year-old man into custody, police said. The man complained of feeling ill, and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded to evaluate him.

The man police say burned a man to death in front of a Northwest Miami-Dade hardware store on Sunday was arrested Monday while panhandling about a mile away.

As spring break gets going this week in South Florida, the National Weather Service has extended the high rip current risk warning for the waters off Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties to 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Prosecutors have dropped the case against a former John A. Ferguson Senior High School history teacher who was accused of having a sexual relationship with a student, citing a lack of evidence.

Peacocks could soon be on the outs in some Miami-Dade neighborhoods after the county commission agreed to loosen a law protecting the birds.

Peacocks could be on the outs in some South Florida neighborhoods after the Miami-Dade commission agreed to loosen a law protecting the birds. While the 20-year-old law still protects peacocks from harm, commissioners agreed Tuesday to allow cities to opt out if they present appropriate plans to humanely remove the divisive birds from areas where they're not wanted, the Miami Herald reported. “In my district, we learn to live with these peacocks,” said Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins, representing Palmetto Bay, which has designated itself a bird sanctuary.

Jacob Oliva, chancellor of education and a ex-superintendent of Flagler schools, is one of three finalists for superintendent in Miami-Dade.

A Miami-based animal advocacy group said the eight-month-old dog displayed no aggression and didn't deserve to die.

Nothing but net: A Miami-Dade police officer in the department's marine unit helped free a young dolphin caught in a fishing net. (Joe Raedle/Newsmakers)MIAMI — A Florida police officer helped free a dolphin in distress last month, freeing the young mammal from a fishing net. Officer Silva located a juvenile dolphin that was trapped in a fishing net. Watch the video to see how Officer Silva helped free the dolphin. The dolphin was not cooperating, splashing in the water, but Silva eventually cut enough of the net so the dolphin could swim away.

A juvenile dolphin was rescued by a Miami-Dade police officer in the Marian Patrol Unit, according to the police department.

A major lawsuit in the collapse of a Florida beachfront condominium that killed 98 people will go to trial in March 2023.

Miami Police/Miami-Dade JailA crypto-dabbling, Porsche-loving real estate agent has been denied bond after being accused of carrying out a chilling and unprovoked murder spree targeting homeless men in Miami.Willy Suarez Maceo, 25, was arrested and booked into the Miami-Dade jail system at 2:28 a.m. Friday on a murder charges.Miami Interim Police Chief Manuel Morales said Maceo allegedly drove up to a homeless man near downtown Miami on Tuesday night and shot him in the head. The unidentified ma

A Miami-Dade police officer attending a high school wrestling match while off-duty over the weekend got a little carried away, police said, attacking and pushing someone to the ground in the gymnasium, then lifting his shirt and tapping his holstered firearm while being escorted out of the gymnasium.

A driver trying to flee police near Miami crashed into a tree at high speeds, killing himself and his passenger.

The superintendent for Miami-Dade County schools is being knighted by Spain for his work in expanding Spanish-language programs.

A Miami judge says a summer trial is likely for lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in damages from the collapse of a Florida beachfront condominium that killed 98 people.

A 23-year-old woman called her former high school teacher a “monster,” cursed at him and then clapped as he was handcuffed and led from a Miami-Dade courtroom.

Citing declines in COVID-19 cases, three county school boards this week decided to end mask requirements for students at all grade levels. The decisions by...

An administrative law judge will have up to two weeks to issue a decision after a hearing ended Friday in a challenge by six school...

Florida Agriculture Commissioner and gubernatorial hopeful Nikki Fried said that Governor Ron DeSantis is 'lying' about the efficacy of mask mandates in Florida public schools....

A Hialeah Middle drama teacher has been arrested after police said she had sex with a 14-year-old former student in her car multiple times over the past two months.

Personal property recovered from the destroyed units of a South Florida condo building that collapsed will be divided into two categories: soft items and hard items.

Ron DeSantis to prevent mandating masks for Florida school students is back in force. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File) (Lynne Sladky)MIAMI — (AP) — A federal judge declined Wednesday to block a ban imposed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to prevent mandating masks for Florida school students amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. That lawsuit contends that DeSantis does not have authority to order local school boards to ban mask mandates. The federal agency has informed state officials that it would also be investigating whether the state’s ban on mask mandates violates federal civil rights laws that protect students with disabilities.

A federal judge has declined to block a ban imposed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to prevent mandating masks for Florida school students amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

In their everyday lives, they served as young Miami-Dade cops who patrolled the county’s streets in their police cruisers.

"These individuals appear to be very skilled identity thieves, they're professionals," a prosecutor told reporters. "Except for their names, almost nothing else about them seems to be true."

MIAMI — (AP) — A fourth person has been accused of stealing the identities of victims in the South Florida condominium collapse that killed 98 people, officials said. “These individuals appear to be very skilled identity thieves, they’re professionals,” Fernandez Rundle said on Wednesday. The sister had noticed password changes to the victim’s bank accounts and credit cards, as well as new addresses and contact information. None of the new addresses were the residences of the identity thieves, officials said. Multiple agencies were involved in the fraud investigation, including Miami-Dade police, Surfside police, Aventura police, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S.

Authorities say a fourth person has been accused of stealing the identities of victims in the South Florida condominium collapse that killed 98 people.

Identity theft: State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, right, points, as Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levina Cava holds a board with details of three people arrested. “They’re professionals,” Rundle told reporters. https://t.co/td2Ns3IZde — Miami Herald (@MiamiHerald) September 8, 2021Rundle called them “cyber grave robbers,” according to The New York Times. How the three decided on their targets is unknown, according to the Miami Herald. James E. Lee, the chief operating officer of the Identity Theft Resource Center, told the newspaper that identity thieves have learned to pounce after tragedies where people become displaced.

Prosecutors say three people have been arrested on charges involving the theft of the identities of some of the victims of June’s deadly South Florida condominium collapse.

"The loss of 98 lives was and is still is painfully tragic. But for a group of alleged identity thieves, it was a time to make some money," said Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.

Those who died include teachers, bus drivers, a security worker and a cafeteria manager. "It is a bruising statistic that we need to absolutely internalize," said superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho.

It’s Monday, Aug. 30, and another school week begins as the politics of COVID has started to shift.

A man and a woman were found dead Sunday morning in a car parked at Gwen Cherry Park, Miami-Dade police said.

The Miami-Dade school board has fired a 34-year-old sergeant with district’s police agency who got into a fight with police officers inside a restaurant earlier this year.

Hillsborough and Miami-Dade counties have become the third and fourth school districts in Florida to adopt stricter mask mandates, a day after school boards in Broward and Alachua counties faced threats of severe penalties for defying Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration, which says parents should decide whether their children wear masks.

Miami-Dade police this week arrested a used car dealer who they say rolled back more than 81,000 miles from the odometer of a vehicle he sold a customer last year.

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — When Renee Ness moved to Florida from Illinois, she wanted to relax and enjoy beachside living, the sun, the sand and the water. READ: Photos show Belle Isle condo building deteriorating“It was just such a slow drip that, I don’t know,” Renee said pointing to the light. But Renee’s building, like some 81 other condos in Volusia County, is more than 40 years old and the signs of age are showing. READ: Florida lawmakers may again consider condo oversight“I don’t think it is just Volusia County, which should act, it is all the municipalities,” Volusia County Council Chairman Jeff Brower said. READ: Surfside condo collapse: Final victim identified; death toll rises to 98“We need to see what can be done, and the first step is seeing what options are out there,” Brower said.

Miami-Dade police detectives have arrested two men in the killing of Michael Zaldua, the Florida International University student who was fatally shot inside a parking garage near the school in December 2016, the Miami Herald has learned.

A state ethics panel on Friday rejected a $6,500 fine against a sham no-party candidate who ran in a 2020 Miami-Dade legislative race, a rare move that was triggered by calls for stiffer penalties in a case one commissioner called one of the “most egregious” in Florida.

A judge says victims and families who suffered losses in the collapse of a 12-story oceanfront Florida condominium will get a minimum of $150 million in compensation initially.

Juana Perez-Domingo had been paid to drive the child to a daycare facility, but she "got distracted" and left her in a hot car for seven hours.

As Florida faces one the highest rates of new coronavirus cases in the country, a more transmissible variant and millions of eligible Floridians have yet to be vaccinated, Gov. Ron DeSantis has found a way to make a buck from distrust in science and masks.

We have just entered the third week since the horrific collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, such a short amount of time, it seems, to start putting a price tag on the property where the building once stood.

A second Miami-Dade commissioner tested positive for COVID-19 this week, as the virus continues to spread through the legislative body’s staff as well.

Hundreds of victims of the deadly collapse of a Surfside condo building could expect to see compensation in the near future, as a Miami-Dade Circuit judge Wednesday approved the planned sale of the oceanfront property, valued at more than $100 million, as well as the disbursement of millions more in insurance payments for property and personal damages.

SURFSIDE, Fla. — Crews searching for victims of last month’s partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building have recovered another body, raising the death toll to 95, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Tuesday. >> Read more trending news“Through the ongoing search and recovery efforts, our teams have recovered an additional victim,” she said at a news briefing. “At this step in the recovery process we’re relying heavily on the work of the Medical Examiner’s Office,” Cava said. The 12-story Champlain Towers South partially collapsed in the pre-dawn hours of June 24, as many of the building’s residents were sleeping. As of Tuesday morning, officials have removed 18 million pounds of concrete and debris from the site, Cava said.

Miami prosecutors are weighing whether to upgrade criminal charges against two men accused of raping a South Beach tourist after an autopsy report revealed that she died, in part, because of fentanyl and alcohol.

The chairman of Miami-Dade’s county commission has tested positive for COVID-19 about four months after he said he was fully vaccinated for the virus — prompting a wave of planned tests for senior county leaders and raising questions about exposure at the Surfside command center.

Search crews have discovered an additional four victims of the Surfside condominium collapse, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced Sunday, bringing the confirmed death toll from the June 24 catastrophe to 90 with a remaining list of 31 people feared lost under the rubble.

Families of people lost in the Surfside condominium collapse and surviving unit owners won’t have property taxes due this fall or see notices next month after an emergency order from Gov. Ron DeSantis waived deadlines tied to yearly bills from local governments.

The death toll in the Florida condominium collapse has risen to 78 after 14 additional victims were pulled out of the rubble. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine called it “staggering” and “heartbreaking" during a news conference on Friday. (July 9)

The question of how to carve a new future for the Coconut Grove Playhouse has been discussed and debated since the aging but venerable venue on Main Highway closed its doors in 2006 in what we thought, at the time, would be a temporary move.

Emergency workers are giving up on any hope of finding survivors in a collapsed Florida condo building.

Emergency workers are giving up on any hope of finding survivors in a collapsed Florida condo building.

Gov. Ron DeSantis will be providing an update regarding Tropical Storm Elsa Saturday evening.

As more human remains emerge from the rubble of the collapsed Florida condo tower, the dead now include the first children.

Authorities say nearly 100 people are still unaccounted for after part of a 12-story beachfront condo building collapsed in a town outside Miami.

Police say a man and woman were killed in a drive-by shooting near Miami.

The investigation into who is responsible for a mass shooting in Northwest Miami-Dade continues with information trickling in about what led to 20 people being injured and two killed at the scene outside of a banquet hall early Sunday morning.

MIAMI – Patricia Guerrero had been dealing with squatters for months. Guerrero had been working full time to pay the mortgage of a home invaded by squatters who showed police officers a fraudulent lease. Miami-Dade remains under an eviction moratorium. While the moratorium is to protect legal renters who can’t afford to pay rent due to COVID-19 issues, it’s also protecting squatters who never paid rent in the first place even with a judge’s order to remove the squatters. Guerrero said she had been trapped for more than nine months when she learned the squatters hadn’t been in the home for a few weeks.

Here in central Florida, performance halls continue to prepare to reopen and bars can reopen on Monday -- so what’s next? [TRENDING: What La Nina could mean for rest of hurricane season | Bars allowed to open in Florida | Gator ambushes, attacks Florida woman]DeSantis has not indicated when Phase 3 could happen, however his reopening plan calls for Phase 3 when “there is no evidence of a rebound or resurgence of COVID-19 cases.”Most of Florida entered Phase 2 more than three months ago. You can also find the Re-Open Florida Task Force report from April that includes all three phases here. Extra sanitation measures include either providing disposable paper menus or disinfecting laminated menus after each use. RecreationState parks, beaches, movie theaters, concert halls, playhouses, casinos, arcades and the like can fully reopen with limited social distancing measures.

We will not rest until every one of them is caught and brought to justice, schools police chief Edwin Lopez said. Earlier, officials revealed that Carvalho had never signed a $15.3 million contract with the online platform at the center of the crisis. Ron Steiger, the Miami-Dade County school district's chief financial officer, made the announcement Wednesday during a school board meeting to discuss the failures of K12's online platform, My School Online, the Miami Herald reported. And the district could only measure one-time log-ins, not sustained participation, which is a feature offered by My School Online. Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio has requested a briefing with the Department of Homeland Security on cybersecurity as it relates to school districts.

MIAMI Police in South Florida say they have found two young girls who had been missing from Memphis, Tennessee, for nearly a year, and arrested their 45-year-old mother. But she did provide the color of the house in Biscayne Park where she had been staying, along with two numbers of the street address. On Wednesday, child services officials along with Miami-Dade and Biscayne Park police found the girls mother at a home in Biscayne Park. She had an outstanding warrant for kidnapping out of Memphis, Tennessee, police said. The state attorneys office and the Biscayne Park police are still investigating.

ORLANDO, Fla. Miami-Dade has the most deaths from the novel coronavirus, but two other counties Martin and Manatee rank higher in deaths per 100,000 population, News 6 partner Florida Today reports. Florida Today obtained the statewide coronavirus deaths from the Florida Medical Examiners Commission. For some counties, the medical examiners numbers will be higher, for others lower. This can distort the death rate for counties with smaller populations and fewer cases, compared to larger populated counties with more cases. Florida Today created the interactive below so you can search to see how your county fares.

ORLANDO, Fla. – With the threat of Tropical Storm Isaias diminishing, more than a dozen state-supported COVID-19 testing sites that were shut down due to the inclement weather are planning to reopen as early as Monday. 15 state-supported COVID-19 testing sites closed due to #Isaias will resume operations tomorrow. Though the state-supported sites closed because they’re set up outdoors and can’t handle wind and rain, many private sites continued operating through the weekend. Still, officials have said that the free sites closing temporarily could have an impact on the state’s coronavirus figures. On the flip side, Mike Jachles from the Florida Department of Emergency Management said there could be at least one benefit to the decrease in testing.

MIAMI Someone beheaded a statue of Jesus Christ in the courtyard of a South Florida church, an act of vandalism now being investigated by the Miami-Dade police and the Department of Homeland Security. The statue was destroyed between Tuesday night and Wednesday in the courtyard of the Good Shepherd Catholic Church in West Kendall. This is an attack on the church, Mary Ross Agosta, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Miami, told the Miami Herald. People find peace at these types of places, especially during these times, police spokesman Argemis Colome told the newspaper. We want to ensure the community that MDPD will look into the matter so people can continue to feel safe.

A new county order also closes casinos, strip clubs, movie theaters, the zoo and other entertainment venues a month after they were allowed to reopen. Florida reported 341 new hospital admissions of COVID-19 patients on Friday, the biggest daily jump since the pandemic began. The county's latest statistics showed more than 1,400 COVID patients in Miami hospitals, including 306 in intensive care, occupying about 73% of the ICU beds that would be otherwise available. Florida's health department releases a daily cumulative tally of new hospitalizations of people who test positive for the virus, but doesn't provide statewide numbers of COVID-19 patients currently in hospitals, ICU beds or on ventilators. Statewide, about 20% of ICU beds are currently available, though some hospitals have additional capacity that can be turned into ICU units if need be.

ORLANDO, Fla. As of Friday, most of Florida has taken the next step of reopening the economy that was ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. All the of the state -- with the exception of Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties -- can now enter phase two of the governors reopening plan and with that comes the easing of even more restrictions. Florida was in phase one for one month, from May 4 until Thursday, but its unknown at this point how long Florida will stay in phase two before its time to move to phase three, which many are referring to as the new normal. We are opening at 11:59 a.m. You know you cant drink all day if you dont start in the morning. On Friday morning, Florida reported 1,305 new cases of COVID-19 since approximately the same time the day before, as well as 53 new deaths.

MIAMI, Fla. – As restaurants in many Florida cities prepare to re-open on Monday under new pandemic rules set by Gov. Restaurants in all but three South Florida counties can reopen inside dining rooms at 25% capacity. In Lee County, for example, officials are allowing restaurants to place tables and seating in areas not previously allowed, such as parking lots. Florida is saying no condos can be rented, but restaurants can be open. The governor’s order said retail and store-front businesses can reopen, but only if the local government allows it.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – The bodies of two women were discovered in a car that rolled off a ferry into a deep shipping channel off the coast of South Florida. Their family members were notified of the deaths, the Coast Guard said on Twitter. Miami-Dade police identified the women as Emma Afra, 63, of Miami, and Viviane Brahms, 76, of Harrison, New York. The Coast Guard is investigating how the car fell from the ferry, which takes people and cars back and forth from the exclusive Fisher Island. The front and back of the ferry are usually closed by chains during the short trip.

MIAMI – The FBI has joined the search for a newborn baby who disappeared after his mother, grandmother and great-grandmother were fatally shot in South Florida, official said. FBI spokesman Michael Leverock confirmed the agency is assisting in the case, the Miami Herald reported Monday. Andrew Caballeiro was a week old when his father, Ernesto Caballeiro, 49, kidnapped him last month, Miami-Dade police said. A short time later, police found the bodies of Arlety García Valdés, 40; Isabel Valdés González, 60; and Lina González Licor, 84. “Our detectives are still following all the leads they have in the case," Miami-Dade police Detective Ángel Rodríguez said.

Two Central Florida Zika virus cases were reported by the Florida Department of Health on Tuesday. Two cases were reported in Orange County and three involving pregnant women. In addition, cases were reported in Polk County, Broward, Palm Beach County, Miami-Dade counties also had cases reported. This brings the total non-travel related to reported today to 16. Infection Type Infection Count Travel-Related Infections of Zika 558 Non-Travel Related Infections of Zika 46 Infections Involving Pregnant Women 78