MIAMI-DADE COUNTY

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

Semmie Lee Williams Jr. was arrested Wednesday and was taken into custody in Miami on a first-degree murder charge for the killing of Ryan Rogers, 14.

Police say a 15-year-old South Florida girl may have been kidnapped and taken to North Carolina by someone she met in an online video game.

Police say officers responding to a call about vehicle thefts in South Florida fatally shot one of the suspects.

Authorities have taken into custody a 26-year-old man who apparently stowed away in the landing gear compartment of an American Airlines fight that arrived at Miami International Airport.

Arrested: Ricky Williams is accused of robbing a woman and striking her with a sock filled with "rocks or hard objects." (Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation)MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — A Florida man is accused of striking a woman with a sock full of rocks to steal her purse Monday, authorities said. >> Read more trending newsRicky Williams, 28, was arrested early Tuesday and charged with armed robbery and aggravated battery, according to Miami-Dade County online booking records. The woman told police she was waiting for an Uber driver at about 4:45 p.m. EST, WPLG reported. With the help of surveillance video, police were able to identify Williams and arrested him Tuesday, WPLG reported.

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.

A new lawsuit contends that construction of a luxury building next door triggered the collapse of an already fragile Florida condominium that killed 98 people in June.

Twenty-five years ago, a man feeding ducks with his nephew spotted a cardboard box wrapped in rope and duct tape floating down a Miami Lakes canal. Thinking it might be something valuable, they corralled the box, opened it and were immediately met with the smell of rotting flesh.

A South Florida teenager died in police custody after he was arrested for a carjacking and leading police officers on a chase.

Miami-Dade Police use reward cards to solve child homicides.

Florida’s largest school district is dropping all mask mandates.

The Florida Department of Health is hosting two free COVID-19 vaccination events at middle schools across Lake County.

A Florida Highway Patrol trooper was caught on camera saving a choking toddler on Interstate-95 in Miami-Dade County this month.

When Loretta Bruno got dropped off at the bus stop near her Florida City home in Tuesday morning darkness, the friend driving Bruno saw one of her children come out of the bushes behind the bus stop.

A John I. Smith K-8 Center teacher was charged with having an inappropriate relationship and sex with a 15-year-old former student of hers, police say — becoming the third teacher in Miami-Dade County arrested for similar charges this month.

Frank Pichel was arrested early Friday on a felony charge of impersonating a police officer after the 59-year-old mayoral candidate allegedly flashed a badge and claimed to be an active deputy in Key Largo, Fla., according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

A South Florida man has been arrested in connection with a shooting that killed three people and injured 20 others outside a banquet hall earlier this year.

A hearing was held Thursday morning to discuss several topics surrounding the aftermath of the Surfside condominium collapse.

They're specially trained to detect and alert officials of any potentially infected travelers before they board.

"It's a tremendous loss," said one education official of the death of a 30-year teacher.

Florida is reporting its deadliest peak since the pandemic began, surpassing previous coronavirus surges in the state.

We have seen a series of meltdowns at Florida airports in the past few months, but the latest at Miami International got physical. The confrontation happened Friday night at the American Airlines gate.

The Miami-Dade County school district on Wednesday joined Alachua and Broward counties in mandating students wear masks in schools, with exceptions only for medical reasons....

Miami mask mandate By a 7-1 vote, the Miami-Dade School Board approved a mandatory mask rule, which goes into effect when schools open on Monday. The decision comes days before Florida’s largest school district begins classes on Monday, WPLG reported. Before the vote, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho told the State Board of Education that he was prepared to defy Gov. The State Board of Education ruled that the Broward district violated a state rule that gives parents the option of having their children opt out of masks, the newspaper reported. The mask rule in Miami-Dade applies to all indoor areas and school buses, according to the Herald.

The decision comes one day after education officials in the state voted to investigate and possibly punish two counties that have flouted the ban.

Anyone who is planning to get an antigen rapid test at a Miami-Dade County-run testing site will now also be required to get a PCR test, which is more accurate in detecting early COVID infections but takes slightly longer to process results.

"My grandfather just comes in the house screaming, 'We have to leave immediately," one resident said.

The following is a transcript of an interview with Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, that aired on Sunday, August 8, 2021, on "Face the Nation."

Masks will be required at all indoor county facilities in Miami-Dade County, and all of Orange County's 4,200 non-unionized county employees must be fully vaccinated by end September.

Following the newest CDC guidance, Miami-Dade County is requiring masks to be worn by employees and visitors inside all county facilities — vaccinated or not.

The final victim of the condo building collapse in Florida has been identified, a relative said Monday, more than a month after the middle-of-the-night catastrophe that ultimately claimed 98 lives.

Miami-Dade County has identified the final known victim of the Surfside condominium collapse, capping more than a month of recovering bodies and remains of the missing from the rubble of the Champlain Towers South complex.

The last victim of the June 24 condominium collapse in Surfside, Fla., has been identified, a relative confirmed Monday to the Associated Press. The latest: Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava confirmed at a press conference Monday afternoon that 98 people died in the condo collapse, and all have been identified.Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free"All 97 persons for whom we had missing persons reports have been recovered,

The family of Estelle Hedaya say they have confirmation she is the 98th victim of the Surfside disaster.

Residents of a condo building in Coral Gables have been told they will no longer need to evacuate their homes after emergency measures were taken over the weekend to address fears of structural concerns in the underground parking garage.

The mural is almost done now.

If you asked Miami hoteliers in January what 2021 would have in store for the city’s hospitality industry, likely none would have predicted they’d be charging higher rates for rooms than ever before.

Miami-Dade County is escalating coronavirus prevention, opening five new mobile vaccine and testing sites as COVID-19 case numbers reach levels not seen since the height of the pandemic.

Florida Democrats can’t stop losing.

Miami-Dade County announced on Friday that fire rescue crews who have been at the site of the Surfside condo collapse since the night of the tragedy will be handing over the remainder of the recovery effort to Miami-Dade Police.

The city of Aventura could soon become the first in Florida to require that condo associations hand over any engineering, architectural, and life-safety reports they conduct to the city.

Firefighters have ended their mission in clearing debris from the collapsed Surfside condo building Friday, officials said, while police and forensic specialists continue their work to identify human remains in the disaster. Miami Dade Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah told The Associated Press that the fire department’s role in recovering remains at the collapsed Surfside condominium has finished. The disaster site in Surfside is empty now, but it remains a challenge for local officials.

Some people are looking to get tested in South Florida, either because they were exposed to the virus or because they’re planning to travel. Others are trying to get a vaccine.

After the collapse that killed 97 people, a new rule requires buildings are cleared by an engineer or vacated if they are overdue for recertification.

With almost all of the debris removed from the Surfside condo collapse, the oceanfront town expects Collins Avenue to reopen soon around the site of the former Champlain Towers South complex. That’s caused another worry: can the hollowed-out condominium site still support the adjoining road?

Miami-Dade County's Unsafe Structure's Board is under pressure to speed up the process for reviewing problematic structures following the collapse of the Champlain Towers South a month ago. Before the tower collapsed June 24, the county board already had a backlog of 1,000 unsafe-structure cases, the Miami Herald reported. If a building can't get an engineer's endorsement that quickly, residents would have to be evacuated, Spencer Errickson, supervisor of the county's Unsafe Structures division, said at a meeting Wednesday.

A national report compared 53 metro areas in the country.

New indictments in a $78 million pharmaceutical diversion case show the large scope of the scheme

Miami-Dade County police on Saturday announced that one more victim in the Surfside condo collapse has been identified. Authorities have identified 95 victims who lost their lives in the disaster.

As COVID-19 cases continue to surge in Florida, Miami-Dade County will be offering vaccines at three new locations.

Crestview Towers, the condominium tower that the city of North Miami Beach shut down and evacuated due to structural concerns about the building’s safety, has amassed 39 code violations, including failing to have a working fire alarm system.

Miami Building Collapse A worker waits to load his truck with debris from the rubble of the Champlain Towers South building, as removal and recovery work continues at the site of the partially collapsed condo building, Wednesday, July 14, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (Lynne Sladky)SURFSIDE, Fla. — (AP) — Efforts to recover human remains from the debris of a South Florida condo building are nearing an end. Miami-Dade police identified six more victims of last month’s Surfside condo collapse on Thursday, meaning that 92 of the 97 confirmed dead have been identified. More than 26 million pounds (12 million kilograms) of debris and concrete have been removed as recovery work continues. On Thursday, another building, with three stories of apartments in northwestern Miami-Dade, was evacuated following a partial roof collapse. A cause has not yet been pinpointed for the Surfside collapse, although there were several previous warnings of major structural damage at the 40-year-old building.

Efforts to recover human remains from the debris of a South Florida condominium are nearing an end.

So far, 97 victims have been pulled from the rubble.

So far, 97 victims have been pulled from the rubble.

Miami Building Collapse A worker waits to load his truck with debris from the rubble of the Champlain Towers South building, as removal and recovery work continues at the site of the partially collapsed condo building, Wednesday, July 14, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (Lynne Sladky)SURFSIDE, Fla. — (AP) — Efforts to recover human remains from the debris of a South Florida condo building are nearing an end. Miami-Dade police identified six more victims of last month’s Surfside condo collapse on Thursday, meaning that 92 of the 97 confirmed dead have been identified. More than 26 million pounds (12 million kilograms) of debris and concrete have been removed as recovery work continues. The Surfside collapse has raised alarm and focused scrutiny on other older apartment buildings. On Thursday, a three-story apartment building in northwestern Miami-Dade was evacuated following a partial roof collapse, officials said.

The roof of a three-story apartment building has partially collapsed in northwest Miami-Dade County, authorities say. Firefighters are conducting evacuations.

Efforts to recover human remains from the debris of a South Florida condo building are nearing an end. Miami-Dade police identified six more victims of last month’s Surfside condo collapse on Thursday, meaning that 92 of the 97 confirmed dead have been identified. A cause has not yet been pinpointed for the collapse, although there were several previous warnings of major structural damage at the 40-year-old building.

The recovery effort at Champlain Towers South may be coming to a close, three weeks to the day after the building collapsed.

The Miami Herald obtained residential data from June 7th through July 11th.

For the second time this summer, about 20 people used the public comment period during Wednesday’s Miami-Dade County School Board meeting to lambaste the district for teaching critical race theory and requiring students and teachers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 when they return to class next month and to wear a mask while on campus.

Officials plan to step up security at the site of the Miami-area condominium collapse to make sure the personal possessions of the victims are preserved for their families.

On the 19th day since the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South, search teams continued to work through the rubble in the effort to find the remains of every last victim.

At least 94 are confirmed dead and 22 unaccounted for at the site of the collapse of a 12-story condominium building in Surfside, Florida.

Authorities searching for victims of a deadly collapse in Florida say they hope to conclude their painstaking work in the coming weeks as a team of first responders from Israel departed the site.

Crews expect to complete the search in about two weeks

Across Florida, people living in the thousands of condominiums rising above the state’s 1,350 miles of coastline wonder if the building collapse in Surfside could happen to their home.

Officials overseeing the search at the site of the Florida condominium collapse sounded increasingly somber Tuesday about the prospects for finding anyone alive.

Officials overseeing the search at the site of the Florida condominium collapse seem increasingly somber about the prospects for finding anyone alive.

Tropical Storm Elsa continues on a path toward Florida.

The Fourth of July holiday is being marked with somber tones in South Florida, where a collapsed building has left at least 24 dead and more than 120 missing under rubble.

A Surfside, Florida, official pushed back Sunday on the idea that the town was responsible for slowing down a condo board’s plans to make needed structural repairs to a building that eventually collapsed, killing dozens.

Cuba has evacuated 180,000 people amid fears that Tropical Storm Elsa could cause heavy flooding as it passes over the island Monday, after battering several Caribbean islands, killing at least three people.

Requirements to recertify older buildings do not exist in most other parts of the state, including Central Florida counties like Brevard and Volusia.

One of the most beloved figures in Miami sports history has visited the site of a Florida condo building collapse.

Elected officials are vowing to conduct multiple investigations into the deadly collapse of an oceanfront Florida condo building.

Search and rescue teams from Miami-Dade have been described as among the best and most experienced in the world.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to hold a bill signing in Miami Monday morning.

Miami-Dade police are investigating a mass shooting that occurred early Sunday morning following a graduation party in Kendall.

Miami’s top officials and relatives of the victims are pleading with the community to offer information to find the suspects in a Memorial Day weekend mass shooting that killed three people and wounded 20 others outside a banquet hall.

Miami’s top officials and relatives of the victims are pleading with the community to offer information to find the suspects in a Memorial Day weekend mass shooting that killed three people and wounded 20 others outside a banquet hall.

Divers found the white Nissan Pathfinder that was involved in a mass shooting on Sunday morning submerged in a canal in Miami-Dade County, News 6 partner Local 10 reports.

A manhunt is continuing into Memorial Day for three masked suspects who opened fire early Sunday morning outside a Miami banquet hall.

Police in South Florida are looking for suspects involved in a pair shootings that brought a deadly start to the Memorial Day weekend.

Police in South Florida are looking for suspects involved in a pair shootings that brought a deadly start to the Memorial Day weekend.

Ron DeSantis was in South Florida Tuesday to provide an update on the years-long efforts to restore the Everglades and clean up the state’s dirty waterways. DeSantis, along with other environmental state leaders, spoke about Florida’s water quality projects near the Miccosukee Indian Village in Miami-Dade County. Crews were working to remove roadbed from the old Tamiami Trail to help improve water flow. The governor said Florida’s leadership and coordinated efforts made it easier to ask the federal agencies for assistance to see projects through. As DeSantis touted Florida’s success under Frazier, he announced Florida’s top environmental scientist had accepted a role as dean of the College of Marine Science at the University of South Florida.

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade police have confirmed that a man is in custody in connection with the abduction, sexual assault and shooting of a 12-year-old boy, according to News 6 partner WPLG-TV. The boy was sexually assaulted and shot over the weekend, officials said. Johnny can be seen on video escorting the boy to the market to get help. UPDATE: 12-year old boy who was abducted, raped & shot- snuck out of his home over the weekend to go over a friend’s house... even using pillows atop his bed to trick his parents. “When they told me it was a little boy, that’s awful,” said Celine Mejia.

Police officers surround a 12-year-old boy after they said he was abducted, sexually assaulted and shot. MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Police are searching for the person they say sexually assaulted a 12-year-old boy before shooting him, reports News 6 sister station WPLG. Police said the boy was walking on the street around 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. Saturday in the Brownsville neighborhood of Northwest Miami-Dade County. That’s when a man pulled up, forced the boy into a vehicle, sexually assaulted him, shot him and then forced him out of the vehicle, police said. That’s the general area where the boy was sexually assaulted and shot, police said.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida is increasing its coronavirus vaccine distribution which began in the last week of 2020, as counties add more vaccine sites. In early January, Florida was vaccinating three priority groups: Health care workers, long-term care facility staff and residents and people 65 or older. The health care group includes people who work outside hospitals, including EMTs and paramedics as well as Florida Department of Health staff. Florida was allocated 1.15 million COVID-19 vaccine shots as of Jan. 6, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To best track vaccinations, News 6 made an interactive map of all the sites around Central Florida’s 10 county region.

Take, for just one example, the plight of Epilepsy Florida. AdNow, as Florida budget officials plan for deep revenue shortfalls for the coming state fiscal year, groups such as Epilepsy Florida are bracing for an uncertain 2021. Donations are down too,” said Karen Basha Egozi, the president and CEO of Epilepsy Florida. UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCESAs for Epilepsy Florida, the group is also worried about the future. For years, the funding model — $5 from every seat belt infraction — brought in healthy funds for the Florida Epilepsy Services Program, which funds Egozi’s group.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Attorneys representing the parents of the 5-year-old boy who died in a wave pool is now suing Daytona Lagoon for negligence. The lawsuit claims Daytona Lagoon did not have adequate supervision or safety precautions when Kaiden Lawson drowned on Aug. 3, 2019. The wave pool was also very crowded with an “unsafe number of patrons,” according to the lawsuit. Daytona Beach Fire Department previously told News 6 the boy was swimming in the wave pool with his family before he was taken out. Daytona Lagoon asks all guests 42 inches tall or shorter to wear one as a safety precaution when choosing to enjoy its wave pool.

AdThe lawsuit, filed in November, contends that Gutierrez was infected in late March by another employee who came to work with COVID-19. Publix argued in a motion to dismiss that the dispute should be handled as a workers’ compensation insurance case, rather than as a civil lawsuit in circuit court. The proposed changes would not apply to lawsuits, such as the Gutierrez case, filed before the legislation is passed and takes effect, according to a House staff analysis. AdThe Gutierrez lawsuit, which seeks damages on behalf of his children, centers on infections that occurred relatively early in the pandemic. After Jane Doe tested positive for COVID-19, Gutierrez was sent home April 2 and told to quarantine, according to the lawsuit.

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – ***10:01 p.m. Jan. 29 UPDATE***The missing girls have been found safe, according to the Miami-Dade police. ***ORIGINAL***A Florida Amber Alert was issued Friday for two girls who may be with a 16-year-old boy, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. She is 5 feet, 4 inches tall and 90 pounds. Wright was wearing a black shower cap, black jacket and white sandals. Records show the girls could be with 16-year-old Keon Kiser, who is 6 feet tall and 135 pounds.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – As a solution to Miami’s notoriously congested traffic, Tesla Inc. founder Elon Musk is proposing to dig tunnels with The Boring Company, one of his many business ventures. “It doesn’t seem very smart and it is certainly going to be expensive,” said Kurtis Gurley, a professor of structural engineering at the University of Florida. Gurley said one challenge of the project would be keeping water out of the tunnels while shoring up its walls. Felice noted that engineers earlier this decade completed the 4,200-foot (1,280 meters) Port of Miami Tunnel, which had a price tag of $668.5 million. The Boring Company burrows utility and freight tunnels under cities to alleviate congestive traffic and shave down transportation times.

State health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey urged residents to continue wearing masks, practicing social distancing and washing their hands frequently. Health care officials are currently vaccinating health care workers, first responders and those living in long-term care facilities —all people in the highest-priority groups for getting doses. In the first phase, priority was given to health care workers and residents and staff at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. Cuomo says hospitals need to do a better job of vaccinating the health care workers who are eligible now. Only health care workers and nursing home residents and staff members are currently being vaccinated in New York.

MIAMI – Two people arrived at a Miami-Dade County park’s basketball court late Sunday, drew weapons and started shooting at a crowd, wounding eight people, officials said. The two others who were wounded are in stable condition. Rodriguez said the two suspects ran away, and that police are asking the public for information regarding their identity and whereabouts. “This is a senseless, heinous crime,” Rodriguez said. “There were adults, children, families, trying to share and trying to have a good time at a park, on a Sunday, before returning to school on Monday.”

“The COVID vaccine supply is limited,” DeSantis said Wednesday during an appearance at a Palm Beach County senior complex where 300 residents were being inoculated. A large part of the job to vaccinate seniors has fallen to hospitals and some county health departments. In addition to focusing on the 65-plus population, DeSantis included as a top priority health care workers who have direct contact with patients. Senior said his member facilities have “hundreds of sites running from Pensacola to Miami” that can be used to administer vaccinations. He said he anticipates that his members will work with county health departments but said details are still being worked out.

MIAMI – Presidential daughter Ivanka Trump helped load boxes of food into the cars of drivers who showed up at a South Florida drive-through food distribution event for those in need. “Merry Christmas," Trump said Tuesday as she hauled a black box into a car's trunk in the parking lot of King Jesus Ministry in Miami-Dade County, according to WSVN. One driver in the line, Karla Fuentes, told the Miami television station that she had gotten to the church more than 12 hours earlier to get in line for the food and slept in her car. “We can share with everybody.”Another food recipient, Vivian Lopez, said she had lost her job because of the pandemic. The food giveaway isn’t too far from where Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, recently bought property on Indian Creek Island near Miami, an area referred to as “Billionaires Bunker,” according to news reports.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Three people were injured Sunday night when someone began shooting at a group gathered outside during a family gathering in Homestead, police said. A police officer for the Miami-Dade County school system who was attending the party returned fire, news outlets reported. One man was airlifted to a trauma center, where he was reported to be in good condition. The other two were taken to Homestead Hospital. The officer wasn't injured, police said.