Skyscrapers erase what makes Miami Beach unique. State bill is not ‘progress'
South Beach's historic Art Deco District.
Miami
Miami Beach's soul
Miami Beach's iconic Art Deco buildings are not just historic — they're the soul of the city. The latest version of Florida's Live Local Act, allowing the demolition of such buildings in favor of high-rise towers, is a slash-and-burn, chainsaw approach disguised as progress. Art Deco's architectural treasures drive tourism, boost the local economy and define our identity. Replacing them with generic skyscrapers would erase what makes Miami Beach unique. Once gone, this heritage cannot be rebuilt.
True progress preserves character, not destroys it. I urge our elected officials to stand against this reckless legislation and protect the legacy that sets Miami Beach apart.
Rosemary Ravinal,
Doral
Condo worries
The May 4 story, 'How a small Bay Harbor condo met Florida's tough rules,' was excellent. However, there are more associations that fail to work together for the benefit of their community. The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation must proactively investigate associations that knowingly try to bankrupt their associations, only to be bought out by a hungry and savvy developer.
In one condo in Little Havana, the 'officers' (no elections have been held in years) do not have building insurance, lack proper reserves, have unfinished roof repairs, a malfunctioning elevator and have 'rented' clubhouse space as an apartment to a family member.
Condo owners will have nowhere to go when they get hit by a huge assessment.
Maria Galvez,
Kendall
Lawful duty
Re: the May 5 article, 'Florida Attorney General digs in against Judge blocking new state immigration law.' To the extent that the federal government has used well known applicable provisions (among them Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act) to deputize state and local police officers to assist with immigration compliance, it would appear that Judge Kathleen Williams' order may have a problem.
If the law enforcement officers involved were deputized and they performed their duties as the government requested, even if the state statute is flawed, the arrests at issue and their continued assistance to the government would likely be lawful.
Robert E. Panoff,
Pinecrest
Truly, the facts
I was beyond delighted to read the May 4 op-ed by Miami Herald editorial board member Mary Anna Mancuso, 'No one is above the law, not even Milwaukee Judge.' The Milwaukee circuit judge, Hannah Dugan, was certainly in violation of her oath to uphold the Constitution and laws of the United States.
Mancuso is a true journalist, like those my mature age group was so used to. It was so refreshing to see her common sense, objectivity and moral compass in true journalist fashion.
Today's news media generally lean toward political beliefs of their choice with no regard to the truth. They simply distort their stories to suit their political persuasions. Mancuso should be a role model for her professionalism.
Lucita L. Moran,
Coral Gables
Due process
Re: the May 4 op-ed, 'No one is above the law, not even Milwaukee Judge.' There have been multiple violations, in the last few months, of the due process clause of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. Judge Dugan possibly perceived that Flores-Ruiz had not fully been given due process.
Is it right to call Dugan a heroine for shielding him? Were there heroes in Europe who helped Jews escape Nazi Germany? Were there heroes in pre-Civil War America who ran the Underground Railroad?
Rev. Martin Luther King was arrested ✓29 times in his life. Many consider him a hero in spite of that.
Joel Ross,
Fort Lauderdale
What oath?
When asked if it was his duty to uphold the Constitution, President Trump replied, 'I don't know.'
I don't know?
To quote former tennis pro John McEnroe: 'You can't be serious?'
Did the oath of office Trump took mean anything to him?
I guess not.
Peter M. Brooke,
Doral
Eyes forward
Re: the May 4 story, 'How a Florida driver reacts to seeing a border patrol car could get them pulled over, feds say.' Jeffrey Dinise, chief patrol agent for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said that a driver who 'looks away' from a marked unit is suspicious.
Perhaps someone should remind Dinise that not keeping eyes on the road is a safety issue. Also, varying one's speed can be due to multiple factors, top among them is keeping up with, or slowing down for, traffic.
As a white male, I'll be curious to see if I get stopped the next time I encounter a CBP-marked unit and look away and vary my speed.
Scot McCluskey,
Davie
All to blame
Re: U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar's April 24 op-ed, 'I don't belong in letter claiming inaction on immigration in Miami-Dade.' Perhaps it is true that she was unfairly painted. I fully agree that Democrats share responsibility for our immigration policy mess. However, are Republican Party members blameless?
As a Senator, Marco Rubio was part of a bipartisan group to create immigration reform. Not surprisingly, given Rubio's oft-demonstrated lack of a political spine, the minute he received blowback from his GOP colleagues, he abandoned the effort.
More recently, during the Biden administration, a bipartisan consensus was reached on immigration reform, only to be tanked by Congressional Republicans when Donald Trump informed them he wanted to run on immigration.
During his first 100 days in office, Trump and his executive branch have ridden roughshod over the U.S. Constitution, defying due process rights of immigrants, deporting American citizens and thumbing their nose with impunity at the courts which have tried to apply the brakes to this autocratic insanity.
Salazar said that given the atrocities visited on the Cuban people, which is undeniable and which forced tens of thousands to '[flee] Fidel Castro's tyranny,' the pain of that 'brands your soul.'
Where are the 'branded souls' of now U.S. Secretary of State Rubio and U.S. Reps Carlos Gimenez and Mario Diaz-Balart?
Rubio is aggressively pursuing and supporting all sorts of vindictive actions against immigrants. As to the others, their silence in response to (and tacit support of) the outrages against the Constitution and immigrant population is palpable.
Most respectfully, Salazar's op-ed is likewise substantially 'short on facts.'
Harry M. Solomon,
Coral Gables
Fishing industry
Florida's commercial fishing industry is more than just a livelihood — it's a tradition that sustains families and the state's economy. With more than 100,000 jobs and $18 billion in economic contributions annually, Florida's fishers lead the Gulf region in landings, fishing trips and seafood production. From stone crab to spiny lobster, our waters provide iconic catches that feed America and fuel local businesses.
The Gulf Council plays a vital role in managing key fisheries, balancing conservation with the ability of fishers to make a living. For more than two decades, Florida has held an essential at-large seat, ensuring our fishers' voices are heard.
Now, Louisiana is attempting to claim this seat, a move that would weaken Florida's influence in vital policy decisions. President Trump's April 2025 Executive Order on Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness reaffirms his commitment to domestic production, reducing regulatory burdens and securing the future of our industry.
Keeping this Gulf Council seat in Florida ensures that sound science and strong leadership protect the economy and the sustainability of our waters. Florida's fishing families and coastal communities depend on it. Safeguarding their future and ensuring Florida's seat at the table remains secure is essential.
Jeff Cramer,
Marathon
Pardon our dust?
Alcatraz Island was once a federal prison. It has been generating revenue as a tourist attraction for decades. President Trump is now pushing the idea to reopen it to house notorious prisoners.
Why spend millions to upgrade Alcatraz when there are plenty of federal prisons around the country that have been closing or deactivated since 2024?
George Lipp,
Cooper City
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New York Post
a minute ago
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Who's REALLY ‘destroying democracy' — after failing to win voters legitimately?
'Destroying democracy' — the latest theme of the left — can be defined in many ways. How about attempting to destroy constitutional, ancient and hallowed institutions simply to suit short-term political gains? So, who in 2020, and now once again, has boasted about packing the 156-year-old, nine-justice Supreme Court? Who talks frequently about destroying the 187-year-old Senate filibuster — though only when they hold a Senate majority? Who wants to bring in an insolvent left-wing Puerto Rico and redefine the 235-year-old District of Columbia — by altering the Constitution — as two new states solely to obtain four additional liberal senators? Who is trying to destroy the constitutionally mandated 235-year Electoral College by circumventing it with the surrogate 'The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact?' Does destroying democracy also entail weaponizing federal bureaucracies, turning them into rogue partisan arms of a president? So who ordered the CIA to concoct bogus charges of 'collusion' to sabotage Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, the 2016-2017 transition, and the first 22 months of Trump's first term? Who prompted a cabal of '51 former intelligence officials' to lie to the American people on the eve of the last debate of the 2020 election that the FBI-authenticated Hunter Biden laptop was instead the work of a 'Russian intelligence operation?' Who ordered the FBI to connive and partner with social-media conglomerates to censor accurate news deemed unhelpful to the 2020 Biden campaign? Who pulled off the greatest presidential coup in history by using surrogates in the shadows to run the cognitively debilitated Biden presidency, then by fiat canceled his reelection effort and finally anointed as his replacement the new nominee Kamala Harris, who had never won a single primary delegate? Who ordered FBI SWAT teams to invade the home of a former president because of a classification dispute over 102 files out of some 13,000 stored there? Who tried to remove an ex-president and leader of his party from at least 25 state ballots to deprive millions of Americans of the opportunity to vote for or against him? Who coordinated four local, state and federal prosecutors to destroy a former and future president by charging him with fantasy crimes that were never before, and will never again be, lodged against anyone else? Who appointed a federal prosecutor to go after the ex-president, who arranged for a high-ranking Justice Department official to step down to join a New York prosecutor's efforts to destroy an ex-president, and who met in the White House with a Georgia county prosecutor seeking to destroy an ex-president — all on the same day — a mere 72 hours after Trump announced his 2024 reelection bid? Who but the current Democrats ever impeached a president twice? Has any party ever tried an ex-president in the Senate when he was out of office and a mere private citizen? When have there ever been two near-miss assassination attempts on a major party presidential candidate during a single presidential campaign? Who destroyed the southern border and broke federal law to allow in, without criminal or health background audits, some 10 million to 12 million illegal aliens? Who created 600 'sanctuary jurisdictions' for the sole purpose of nullifying federal immigration law, in the eerie spirit of the renegade old Confederacy? Who allowed tens of thousands of rioters, arsonists and violent protesters over four months in 2020 to destroy over $2 billion in property, kill some 35 people, injure 1,500 police officers and torch a federal courthouse, a police precinct and a historic church — all with de facto legal impunity? How do the purported destroyers of democracy find themselves winning 60% to 70% approval on most of the key issues of our times, while the supposed saviors of democracy are on the losing side of popular opinion? How does a president 'destroy democracy' by his party winning the White House by both the popular and Electoral College vote, winning majorities in both the Senate and House by popular votes and enjoying a 6-3 edge in the Supreme Court through judges appointed by popularly elected presidents? So what is behind these absurd charges? Three catalysts: One, the new anguished elitist Democratic Party alienated the middle classes through its Jacobin agenda and therefore lost the Congress, the presidency and the Supreme Court, and now has no federal political power. Two, the Democratic Party is polling at record lows and yet remains hellbent on alienating the traditional sources of its power — minorities, youth and Independents. Three, Democrats cannot find any issues that the people support, nor any leaders to convince the people to embrace them. So it is no surprise that the panicked Democrats bark at the shadows — given that they know their revolutionary, neo-socialist agenda is destroying them. And yet, like all addicts, they choose destruction over abandoning their self-destructive fixations. Victor Davis Hanson is a distinguished fellow of the Center for American Greatness.
New York Post
31 minutes ago
- New York Post
NY Dems aim to de-mask ICE agents to scare them off their raids — NOT to protect the public
Supporters claim a bill introduced by Democratic state lawmakers last month banning ICE agents and police from wearing masks during raids will ensure safety and prevent authoritarianism. One backer, Sen. Patricia Fahy, fumes that ICE is 'operating like masked militias' and 'paramilitary secret police' and so must be reined in. Nonsense: The awkwardly and misleadingly named Mandating End to Lawless Tactics Act is actually little more than an attempt to thwart immigration enforcement by making ICE agents fear for their personal safety. It joins similar efforts in other states and in Congress to 'unmask ICE.' In the words of GOP Sen. George Borrello, 'This bill is driven by ideology, not a genuine concern for public safety.' The Left's hypocrisy on this issue is staggering. Progressives — including many of the MELT Act's supporters in the Legislature — have opposed mask bans for criminal suspects and rioters, such as Nassau County's common-sense ban, which has exceptions for law enforcement. Yet for all their sympathy for those involved with the criminal-justice system, they have no qualms about painting cops as criminals and subjecting them to mask bans. If these lawmakers truly cared about public safety, they'd go after the rioters and real criminals who've routinely hidden their identities to evade accountability following the 2020 George Floyd unrest and Oct. 7 demonstrations. ICE and other law enforcement don't mask up because they have machinations of becoming a 'paramilitary secret police.' They do so to keep themselves and their families safe from multinational gangs such as Tren de Aragua. Facial-recognition technology, now rapidly improving due to AI, gives anyone — including nefarious actors like Antifa or cartel members — the ability to reverse image search the unmasked face of an ICE agent. They can then obtain and post their names, addresses and information about their relatives to social media. While the Justice Department can prosecute those responsible for such doxxing, it is nonetheless a frequent threat to agents and loved ones. Addresses of hotels where agents stay during operations are routinely spread on social media so that protesters can harass them. Agitators are so well-organized that an app was created to report and rush to ICE raid locations, as seen in Los Angeles riots this year. The Department of Homeland Security has reported an 830% increase in assaults on ICE personnel this year, attributed to an increase in doxxing and rhetoric against agents. Worse still, even if the MELT Act passes, its effects would be largely symbolic. Lawmakers like Fahy clearly don't understand federalism. Because the Constitution gives federal law precedence, any federal regulation would immediately supersede the MELT Act if passed, rendering it largely symbolic. Additionally, federal agents are immune from state criminal prosecution when acting within the scope of their authority. The MELT Act would also require that all law enforcement agents display their names or badge numbers on their uniforms, hamstringing the plainclothes units of local New York police departments, which now must only provide this information verbally. Some of the bill's supporters mention a more realistic point that masking without wearing identification might allow for easier impersonation of ICE officers. They might also argue that a lack of masking deters possible police misconduct, despite the widespread use of body cameras. Those are valid concerns. But there are ways to protect the public even with masked law enforcement. Public-education campaigns should remind residents that ICE agents and other law enforcement are legally required to identify themselves as police as soon as it is practicable and safe to do so. New Yorkers under arrest should keep in mind their constitutional protections, such as the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney. Masked or not, imposters can still pose as ICE or any other law-enforcement officers. Requiring names or badge numbers does nothing if there's no reliable way to immediately verify the person's legitimacy. The answer isn't a largely symbolic law to neuter real agents; it's to strengthen identification through local cooperation. The only way to fully reassure New Yorkers is cooperation between local police and ICE, whether via collaborative task forces, such as through the federal 287(g) program already adopted by several counties, or by having nearby officers accompany raids to keep public order, which would help quickly debunk any imposters. This type of public partnership would not be a political statement about immigration, rather a commonsense way to put the public at ease and ensure all involved in raids are safe. The MELT Act is symbolic theater that punishes law enforcement while doing nothing to realistically stop imposters. New Yorkers would be safer if lawmakers scrapped this bill and instead fostered real cooperation between local police and ICE to deter fraud and protect both the public and the agents doing dangerous work. Paul Dreyer is a cities policy analyst at the Manhattan Institute.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
We need a populist, pro-democracy movement, not more gerrymandering
Protesters gather in Milwaukee's Cathedral Square to march and rally as part of the No Kings Day protests nationwide. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner) Voting rights activists continue to be divided over gerrymandering. Here in Wisconsin, members of the Fair Maps Coalition, who just recently succeeded in getting representative voting maps for our state, are understandably alarmed by escalating threats to gerrymander the whole country, as Wisconsin Public Radio reports. 'I just hate it at its core,' Wisconsin League of Women Voters Executive Director Debra Cronmiller told WPR of the gerrymandering duel between Texas and California, as each state seeks to carve out more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. 'We can't save democracy by suppressing voters, and this has to be an opportunity to think about a new process and standards, especially in Wisconsin,' iuscely Flores, Wisconsin Fair Maps organizing director, told WPR. But the president and CEO of Common Cause, the national organization dedicated to voting rights and fair elections, told members last week that the group 'won't call for unilateral political disarmament in the face of authoritarianism.' The Common Cause position is tricky. On the one hand the group reaffirms its commitment to nonpartisan redistricting commissions. On the other hand it gives its blessing to California Gov. Gavin Newsom's plan to suspend exactly the sort of nonpartisan commission the group endorses — and which Wisconsin fair maps advocates have long been fighting for. Supposedly, suspending the commission is a temporary measure while Democrats in the legislature draw up gerrymandered districts in time for the midterms. After they do that, Common Cause, Newsom and various Democrats claim California can undo the gerrymander later and restart the fight for fair maps. Really? 'Independent redistricting commissions are one way — and by far the best way — to draw fair maps and achieve fair representation for every single American,' Virginia Kase Solomón, Common Cause president and CEO wrote in a letter to the group's members. But, a follow-up email from Common Cause reiterated the group's non-opposition to Newsom's plan in California, saying, 'As the nation's leading anti-gerrymandering advocacy group, we understand that Trump and Republican leaders' attempt to lock in unaccountable power poses a generational threat to our ability to decide our own futures.' Maggie Daun brought up those same dire threats on her Civic Media radio show when she grilled me about my last column arguing that we can't gerrymander our way back to democracy. What if this is the existential moment and Trump is about to send troops into cities across the U.S. and destroy democracy, Daun asked. I agree with her that we're in an existential moment. But just because we want Democrats to do something to stop Trump, as so many people so passionately do, that doesn't mean that gerrymandering to get a narrow Democratic majority in the House is the right thing to do. For one thing, a new House majority won't be seated until 2027 and won't fix the immediate crisis. Trump is already sending troops into Democratic cities. And his plan to try more federal takeovers will likely unfold before the midterms. What we need right now is a massive popular movement to resist authoritarian overreach, local leaders who stand up to Trump, and courts that continue to hold the line on his administration's assault on the rule of law. The courts have played the biggest role in restraining Trump so far, issuing injunctions and blocking his orders Their power has been badly limited by the U.S. Supreme Court, which curtailed judges' power to issue nationwide injunctions and greenlighted some egregious administrative actions. The current Supreme Court majority has also helped Trump's larger project of dismantling democracy by gutting the Voting Rights Act and by allowing partisan gerrymandering — which delayed but ultimately did not derail Wisconsin's efforts to get fair maps. Common Cause has led the fight against both partisan gerrymandering and the destruction of voting rights. On Saturday, the group declared a National Day of Action, with rallies in communities across the country, including in Wisconsin, to resist Trump's Texas gerrymandering scheme and his unprecedented deployment of federal troops to run roughshod over local communities. But the group's message is somewhat muddled, mixing strong language about fairness and voting rights with tolerance for the prospect of blue-state counter-gerrymandering. One good thing about the gerrymandering brushfire spreading across the nation is that it has provoked a bipartisan backlash. Republicans in New York and California, facing the prospect of being drawn out of their seats, have begun speaking out against the gerrymandering plan for Texas, Politico reports. Some quick math suggests that Republicans are likely to win a nationwide redistricting war that pulls in Missouri, Indiana, Florida and other red states. But Republicans who are in a minority in California and New York are still worried about losing their seats. 'Redistricting is not really an ideological exercise as much as a self-interest exercise,' California-based GOP strategist Rob Stutzman told Politico. Hence blue state Republican House members are calling for their colleagues to stand down in Texas and other red states, lest they lose their seats in the blue state counter-gerrymander. Instead of looking to gerrymandering, which is unfair, diminishes democracy and escalates hyper partisanship, opponents of the Trump administration need to keep building a big, pro-democracy movement that unites a majority of the country against Trump's authoritarian overreach. Wisconsin could lead the way. U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, who has been holding town halls in Republican districts, reports being deluged with worried questions from both his own and his GOP colleagues' constituents who don't like the cuts to Medicaid, food assistance, and Social Security staffing in the unpopular 'Big Beautiful Bill Act.' Most Americans don't want to give away their health care, security and well-being so Elon Musk can get a tax cut. Unfortunately, right-wing activists have played a long game, stacking the Supreme Court, blocking Democratic nominees, destroying the Voting Rights Act and putting the whole Heritage Foundation Project 2025 plan for authoritarianism in place. That won't be undone in a single midterm election. But it is possible to leverage a broad-based populist movement of people who recognize it's in their own interest to fight back.
