Conexion Miami / Florida, oil and its ecosystems
Renewed hunts for oil in sensitive Florida ecosystems have environmental groups raising questions about the state’s regulation of the oil and gas industry, the Associated Press is reporting. A Miami company, Kanter Real Estate LLC, has submitted a permit application to drill an exploratory oil well on the eastern edge of the Everglades. Meanwhile, said the AP, federal approval is pending for a seismic survey meant to locate new areas for drilling in the Big Cypress National Preserve, a freshwater swamp whose health is vital to the neighboring Everglades and to native wildlife, including the endangered Florida panther.
Bringing down Menendez
According to the Palm Beach Post, attorneys for Palm Beach County ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen claim that “the FBI lied to a South Florida federal magistrate so it could plunder the doctor’s West Palm Beach office, illegally obtaining evidence now being used to try to bring down a U.S. senator.” The senator in question? Robert ‘Bob’ Menendez.
Does Raquel worry Gimenez?
Local political races in the Miami area usually gear up in the spring and go full tilt in the early summer. Elections are held in September. So we found it strange that current Miami-Dade mayor Carlos Gimenez already has a canvassing team going door to door in Little Havana – more than a year before his bid for reelection. Maybe it’s not so strange when you consider his current challenger, Raquel Regalado, is popular in that specific area. She also happens to have a father who is mayor of Miami and normally gets a strong turnout in his favor in Little Havana.
Raising flags and questions
Last week’s widely attended flag raising at the new/old Cuban embassy in Washington, D.C. had most people practically melting. The thermometer registered close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Taking the heat index into account, it was closer to 110. There was strong participation from Miamians that day including sweating luminaries like ex Hialeah mayor Raul Martinez and a number of high-ranking area bankers. We were surprised (well, not really) to see former Miami-Dade mayor Alex Penelas sidekick Herman Echevarria in the crowd. The story goes that Herman was bankrupt when Penelas came to power and blossomed into a very wealthy man by the end of the mayor’s term. We hope he is not the type of ‘businessman’ Cuba will do business with soon.
Bush has big lead in Florida
A new survey of Florida voters finds former Gov. Jeb Bush with a big lead among the crowded list of Republican presidential contenders, with U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio a distant second. The survey, conducted by Jacksonville-based Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, found Bush leading Rubio among Florida voters 28 percent to 16 percent. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker ranked third with 13 percent, and businessman Donald Trump registered 11 percent.
Crist is back
Charlie Crist may soon be back – in Washington, D.C. Florida’s former governor who lost a senate race to Marco Rubio and a governor’s race to Rick Scott is looking to make a comeback by running for congress. Republican David Jolly, who is running for Rubio’s senate seat, is vacating the 13th congressional district. If Crist wins the Democratic nomination but loses the House race, the Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat, would be the first major party nominee in nearly a century to lose all three seats.
Rep. David Jolly, his wife and Cuba
And while we’re on the subject of David Jolly… as a U.S. representative in D.C., Rep. Jolly in June was one of 18 House Republicans who voted in favor lifting travel restrictions to Cuba. Jolly seems to favor all side of this issue. He said that President Obama went too far in opening relations with Cuba, but his Tampa Bay area constituents favor greater relations. One other special note: his wife quietly traveled to Cuba in January. Laura Donahoe was not yet engaged or married to Jolly when a group of Pinellas County business and government officials traveled to Cuba.
Charter schools continue to grow
The Miami Herald reported this week that Charter school enrollment in Miami-Dade has gobbled up a larger share of students every year for the last decade. In the upcoming school year, enrollment is expected to top 60,000 students – a 7 percent increase over last year. While public schools are expected to increase by about 400 students this year, charter schools are projected to welcome almost 6,000 more students in Miami-Dade.
More travelers through MIA
Associated Press reports that Miami International Airport is on pace to set a new record for number of travelers. Passenger traffic through the first half of 2015 is up more than 5 percent compared to the same time last year. The total number of people who traveled through MIA last year is 40.9 million. Domestic travelers for the first six months of this year jumped more than 7 percent to 11.5 million, while international traffic increased about 4 percent to 10.4 million.
HIV on the rise in Florida
In the not good news department: The number of reported HIV cases in Florida has jumped 23 percent so far this year, the biggest increase in a continuing upward trend that began in 2012 after several years of decreases. And the proportion of Floridians infected with the disease is at its highest in seven years. Since hitting a low of 4,512 new HIV cases in 2012, the number of new cases in Florida rose 18 percent in 2013 and 11 percent in 2014. There are 3,555 new cases so far in 2015, a 23 percent increase from the first six months of 2014 to the first half of this year.
