MIAMI-DADE COUNTY

On a spring night inside a luxury Brickell condo, an Internet entrepreneur named Haider Rana was watching TV with an exotic dancer after a day of hanging out at the pool. They heard a knock. Rana grabbed his pistol and went to the front door.

The arena where the Miami Heat play will soon have a new name, after the team and Miami-Dade County decided Friday to begin actions to terminate their relationship with FTX on the same day that the cryptocurrency exchange filed for bankruptcy.

Conservative Latinos push back on the liberal talking point that Florida Republicans gained Latino support thanks to Spanish language "disinformation."

The biggest winner of the midterm elections was Ron DeSantis. The biggest loser was Donald Trump.

Florida voters late Tuesday appeared to have rejected three proposed constitutional amendments that would have provided property-tax breaks and eliminated the state’s Constitution Revision Commission.

Florida voters has decided to keep a commission that meets every 20 years to make changes to the state constitution despite lawmakers who argued it is no longer needed.

Voters cast ballots for governors in 36 states on Tuesday, with 20 held by Republicans and 16 held by Democrats.

Former Barack Obama adviser David Plouffe conceded that the “Obama coalition” of Hispanics in Florida is “gone” after massive Republican wins projected on Tuesday.

Miami-Dade County may be ripe for Republicans as Gov. Ron DeSantis' popularity in the Democratic-majority county is rising ahead of a key gubernatorial election.

Republicans are threatening to win Florida's typicall blue Miami-Dade County, which has not voted for a Republican candidate for governor since Jeb Bush two decades ago.

Progressive media members Joy Reid and Jemele Hill argued that Gov. Ron DeSantis’, R-Fla., growing popularity among Latinos could be attributed to racism.

Officials say a U.S. Customs and Border Protection firearms instructor has been shot and killed during a training class at a South Florida gun range.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has sparked a debate over Florida's reputation as a safe haven for migrants as rising numbers of Cubans and Venezuelans seek to resettle in the state.

In an appeal to DeSantis’ hunger for political clashes, Martinez tried to frame his arrest as a hit job by a Democrat, Herald Editorial Board writes.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has suspended a Miami-Dade County commissioner who was charged in a felony corruption case.

This is the vision: At the western end of downtown Miami, a dense, walkable, transit-centered and family-friendly high-rise district would bloom over eight city blocks.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Charlie Crist is expected to announce that he has chosen the Miami-Dade County teachers union president to be his running mate as he challenges Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, two people close to the campaign said Friday. United Teachers of Dade President Karla Hernandez-Mats will be announced as Crist's running mate on Saturday, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement hasn't been made yet. The pick will guarantee DeSantis' education policy is an issue in the campaign.

Dozens of South Florida pharmacies, community health centers, children’s hospitals and pediatricians received delivery this week of the first COVID-19 vaccines available for children as young as 6 months old — much earlier than anticipated after state officials missed a deadline for pre-ordering the shots.

A new company has acquired eighteen Spanish-language radio stations, serving ten of the largest Latinx-populated cities in the country.

Detectives said they dug through 500 boxes of evidence and thousands of sexual assault cases to link the cases to Robert Koehler.

Advanced DNA technology helped detectives link the cases of six women to a man accused of being the “pillowcase rapist” for a string of rapes back in the 1980s. Robert Koehler is currently jailed in neighboring Miami-Dade County, where he faces charges for assaulting a woman in the early '80s as well, Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony said in a Tuesday morning news conference. Authorities believe Koehler, 62, may have committed 40 to 45 rapes, terrifying victims by breaking into their homes at night, the sheriff said.

If we stopped using prisons to warehouse psychiatric patients, we could heal people and save tax dollars.

A bill has been sent to Florida's governor that would require statewide recertification of condominiums over three stories tall, in response to the Surfside building collapse that killed 98 people.

Taxes weren't collected on about 60% of all unemployment benefits issued in 2021. Recipients may owe money or get a smaller refund this tax season.

The mayor of the South Florida town where 98 people died in a beachfront condominium collapse last summer has been voted out of office. Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett came in third in Tuesday's election, according to uncertified results from the Miami-Dade County Elections Department. Business owner Shlomo Danzinger won the race with 499 votes, followed by Vice Mayor Tina Paul with 476 votes and Burkett with 466.

School districts that ignored Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ order banning mask mandates will face a $200 million penalty under a budget bill passed by the Florida House.

The mayor of Miami-Dade County has requested that prosecutors look into allegations that elderly residents of the Little Havana neighborhood in Miami had their party affiliations switched without their knowledge.

FacebookA Florida real estate agent with a soft spot for cryptocurrency has been formally charged with murder in the nighttime killings of two homeless men in Miami, the Miami-Dade County State Attorney’s Office confirmed to The Daily Beast.Willy Suarez Maceo, 25, is suspected of fatally shooting 56-year-old Jerome Antonio Price five times on Dec. 21, 2021, as he slept on a sidewalk in Miami’s Wynwood district. Hours earlier, Maceo allegedly shot another homeless man sleeping in the area. The un

Commissioners in Florida's Miami-Dade County have given a nonprofit the green light to issue IDs for immigrants who are in the country illegally and others who don’t have identification. The plan proposed by Mayor Daniella Levine Cava passed by a 7-2 vote Tuesday. Supporters note that immigrants often struggle to gain access to their children’s schools or to coronavirus tests and vaccines.

Waste collection departments are experiencing higher than normal employee absences due to the COVID-19 surge.

Waste collection departments are experiencing higher than normal employee absences due to the COVID-19 surge.

An average of more than 550,000 Americans are testing positive every day, about 10% of them are in Florida

Districts that have opted for virtual learning this winter are firmly in the minority right now. Only about 100 of the nation's over 13,000 school districts are opting for virtual learning this winter despite surging case numbers.

Florida is seeing a sharp rise in coronavirus infections as the omicron variant rages through the state.

Genomic surveillance data shows omicron has overtaken the delta variant in Miami-Dade County as the dominant strain of the coronavirus in just a matter of weeks.

Just when life seemed a little more normal, a new coronavirus variant is shaking things up.

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 Miami-Dade County murder suspect was taken into custody on Friday in Columbia County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

A South Florida woman is facing criminal charges in the death of a 2-year-old child left in a hot vehicle, police say.

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

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.

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 seem increasingly somber about the prospects for finding anyone alive.

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.

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

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

Firefighters with Jacksonville Fire and Rescue know the challenges their counterparts face in their heroic efforts to find survivors in the rubble left by the collapse of the 12 story condominium building in Surfside.

Less than 24 hours after two wings of a South Florida high-rise condominium collapsed, leaving at least four people dead and dozens more missing, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of its residents and visitors.

President Joe Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have both approved emergency assistance as crews continue working at the scene of a collapsed beachfront condominium building in Surfside as dozens remain missing.

Officials say there are still 159 people unaccounted for after the partial collapse of a beachside building in Florida.

The 12-story beachfront condominium tower in Miami-Dade County that collapsed early Thursday morning was built in 1981 on reclaimed wetlands and a Florida International University researcher told USA Today that the building had been sinking at an alarming rate.

Police say an angry Florida man pulled a gun on a drive-thru worker because they forgot the cream cheese with his bagel.

Officials say a driver unintentionally slammed into spectators at the start of a Pride parade in South Florida, killing one person and seriously injuring another.

Police say a woman and a 15-year-old were fatally shot and three others were wounded by the woman's boyfriend early Monday at an apartment complex south of Miami.

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.

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.

Florida prosecutors say they're pursuing hate crime charges against a South Florida doctor accused of attacking a Hispanic man at a supermarket.

There’s a new species of spider in the world, and it was discovered first by none other than a Zoo Miami zookeeper.

Federal agents in South Florida have seized more than 1,200 pounds of crystal meth with a street value of more than $12 million.

MIAMI – The CVS Pharmacy chain is vaccinating Florida teachers under age 50, circumventing state orders that continue to limit coronavirus inoculations to those over that age. For teachers, Florida limits the vaccine to classroom teachers 50 and older who work in kindergarten through 12th grade. The federal guidelines allow day care workers, preschool teachers and educators in elementary, middle and high schools to be vaccinated with no age limit. 1 goal right now is to get through the senior population,” DeSantis said, explaining why the state is remaining focused on older educators. AdThen early Wednesday a colleague alerted her that after Biden’s announcement, the CVS Health website was letting younger teachers book appointments.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – More than 200 Florida prison inmates have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic started early last year, according to information released Wednesday by the state Department of Corrections and the state Department of Health. Also, six prison staff members have died of COVID-19, up one from last week. The Reception and Medical Center in Union County has been linked to 44 inmate deaths, while the South Florida Reception Center in Miami-Dade County has been linked to 24, according to a breakdown on the Florida Department of Health website. Union Correctional Institution has had 15 inmate deaths, while Columbia Correctional Institution and Dade Correctional Institution have each had 10. In all, 17,614 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began, according to the Florida Department of Corrections website.

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.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – With steady increases in recent months, more than 6,000 people were hospitalized Monday in Florida with “primary” diagnoses of COVID-19, according to information posted on the state Agency for Health Care Administration website. As of a midday count, 6,081 people were hospitalized, including 1,018 in Miami-Dade County. By comparison, 2,081 people were hospitalized with primary diagnoses of COVID-19 on Oct. 1; 2,371 were hospitalized on Nov. 1; 4,282 were hospitalized on Dec. 1; and 5,514 were hospitalized on Dec. 21, according to information The News Service of Florida has compiled from the agency’s website. The increases in hospitalizations have come as Florida has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases. As of Sunday, the state reported 1,271,979 cases since the pandemic started, according to the Florida Department of Health website.

The number of long-term care deaths exceeded 8,000 in recent days, with the number at 8,085 in a report released Sunday by the Florida Department of Health. A report released Thursday showed 8,021 long-term care deaths, up from 7,970 the day before. In all, long-term care residents and staff members make up about 38 percent of the reported 21,212 Florida resident deaths since the pandemic started. “You’ve got this huge turnover staff to begin with, but they’re going to and from home, they’re going to the store, they’re going to the restaurants, they’re going to parties. Four counties -- Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Pinellas and Broward -- have totaled at least 500 long-term care deaths.

Health care workers offer free COVID-19 testing from a Miami-Dade County mobile van outside of an early voting site, Monday, Oct. 19, 2020, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Florida ticked upward by 7,391, health officials reported Sunday. The Florida Department of Health has now reported 21,514 coronavirus-related deaths -- with 77 additional deaths added to the death toll on Sunday. More than 6,300 people were in the hospital Sunday because of the virus, according to health department data. Common symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, breathing trouble, sore throat, muscle pain, and loss of taste or smell.

Ron DeSantis on Monday backed a controversial reservoir being built in the Everglades while announcing the state will use a pool of environmental money to help Miami-Dade County protect Biscayne Bay from continued degradation. DeSantis addressed the issue as he outlined plans to provide a $10 million match for local efforts to restore Biscayne Bay. “The EAA reservoir remains a top environmental priority for my administration, and we look forward to pressing ahead as quickly as possible,” DeSantis said while at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park in Key Biscayne. “In the coming weeks, the county and state will work collaboratively to identify worthwhile projects and pursue them without delay,” DeSantis said. Money for the match is coming from $625 million in the current fiscal year budget for water projects and the Everglades.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation is beginning a new program to use dogs to sniff out invasive pythons. We've got to try new approaches and the detector dogs is just one area where we're doing that," commission Executive Director Eric Sutton. He showed commissioners pictures of the dogs during a virtual meeting, including one with Truman standing behind the massive snake he found. Trainers use python-scented towels and live pythons with surgically implanted trackers to teach the dogs to pick up a snake's scent. The dogs were trained for more than a month before going out in the wild, according to the agency's website.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The number of people hospitalized in Florida with “primary” diagnoses of COVID-19 topped 5,000 on Tuesday, as case numbers and deaths continued to climb. As of early Tuesday evening, 5,103 people were hospitalized with primary diagnoses of COVID-19, up from 4,931 during a Monday count, according to the state Agency for Health Care Administration website. Miami-Dade County had the largest number of people hospitalized Tuesday with 932. It was followed by Broward County, with 514; Hillsborough County, with 300; Duval County, with 286; Palm Beach County, with 283; Pinellas County, with 241; Orange County, with 234; Polk County, with 155; Pasco County, with 136; Escambia County, with 126; Sarasota County, with 125; Lee County, with 124; Osceola County, with 119; Lake County, with 114; Volusia County, with 110; and Collier County, with 109.

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.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – With thousands of additional COVID-19 cases being reported every day, the number of people hospitalized with the disease continues to mount. As of early Monday evening, 3,243 people in Florida were hospitalized with “primary” diagnoses of COVID-19, up from 3,118 on Sunday afternoon, according to Florida Agency for Health Care Administration numbers. The increase came as Florida reported an additional 4,663 cases on Monday, bringing the overall total to 889,864 since the pandemic started, the state Department of Health reported on its website. Also, 17,559 Florida residents and 216 non-residents had died of COVID-19. Miami-Dade County had the most COVID-19 hospitalizations on Monday, with 465.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The number of people hospitalized in Florida with “primary” diagnoses of COVID-19 topped 3,100 on Friday, as thousands of additional people test positive for the virus each day. As of mid-afternoon Friday, an update on the Agency for Health Care Administration website showed 3,129 people hospitalized because of primary diagnoses of COVID-19. RELATED: Florida adds nearly 7,000 new COVID-19 cases FridayThat was up from 2,564 a week earlier and 2,351 two weeks ago, according to numbers compiled daily by The News Service of Florida. The largest number of hospitalizations as of mid-afternoon Friday was in Miami-Dade County, with 433. Also Friday, the state Department of Health reported 6,933 additional COVID-19 cases, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 870,552.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The number of people hospitalized with “primary” diagnoses of COVID-19 has substantially increased during the past two weeks, topping 2,900 on Monday, according to numbers posted on the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration website. The total of 2,902 hospitalizations late Monday afternoon was up from 2,777 on Sunday. It also was up from 2,474 a week earlier and 2,252 two weeks earlier, numbers compiled daily by The News Service of Florida show. The increase in hospitalizations has come as the state has seen thousands of new COVID-19 cases each day. Miami-Dade County had the most people hospitalized late Monday afternoon at 402.

Elsewhere, forecasters announced that Subtropical Storm Theta, a record-breaking 29th named storm of the 2020 hurricane season, had formed far out in the northeast Atlantic by late Monday night. Eta made landfall in the Florida Keys and posed a serious threat across South Florida, which was already drenched from more than 14 inches (35 centimeters) of rain last month. “Never seen this, never, not this deep,” said Anthony Lyas, who has lived in his now-waterlogged Fort Lauderdale neighborhood since 1996. It was the 28th named storm of a busy Atlantic hurricane season, tying the 2005 record for named storms. ___Associated Press writers Cody Jackson in Fort Lauderdale, Tamara Lush in St. Petersburg, and Haleluya Hadero in Atlanta contributed to this report.