Do you know an unsung hero in South Florida? Tell us about a Miami Marvel
South Florida is full of stories of people who consistently make a positive difference in the lives of those around them.
Whether they are dedicated volunteers or compassionate Good Samaritans, their passion for paying it forward uplifts their neighborhoods and offers hope to residents facing hardship. Despite making South Florida a better place, however, their selfless contributions often go unnoticed.
The Miami Herald wants to change that.
We'd like to help tell the stories of Miami Marvels, the unsung heroes who deserve the spotlight for doing good work in their communities. If you know someone who fits the bill, nominate them for their chance to be featured in the Herald.
Please fill out the form below with information on who you'd like to nominate and one of our reporters will reach out. We won't share your name or details from your response without your consent.
If you can't see the form below, click here to fill it out.
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an hour ago
- Miami Herald
Two charged year after Ransom student killed while wakeboarding in Biscayne Bay
Two boaters were charged with misdemeanor careless boating charges in the May 2024 death of a Ransom Everglades School student who was struck by a boat while she and a friend were wakeboarding behind a yacht in Biscayne Bay. Ella Adler, 15, and another girl were being towed by a 42-foot yacht off Nixon Beach in Key Biscayne on May 11, 2024, when she was hit by a 42-foot Boston Whaler driven by 79-year-old Carlos Guillermo Alonso, whose attorneys maintained he never knew he hit Ella. He drove his boat back to his Coral Gables home after striking Adler. The tragedy made international headlines because Ella was the granddaughter of Michael Adler, then the U.S. ambassador to Belgium. Adler was formerly president of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and vice chair of the Florida International University Board of Trustees. Prosecutors charged Alonso with two counts of careless boating on May 20, court records show. Despite several records requests from the Herald, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission hasn't provided the Herald a copy of its final report, which is usually completed before charges are recommended. Edmund Richard Hartley, 31, the yacht captain towing Adler and another girl, was charged with four counts of careless boating, including one count for not having a lookout to keep an eye on the girls. The 2017 Hanse Fjord yacht Hartley captained is owned by Jonathan Rothberg, a biotech multimillionaire who bought a $23.5-million home on the Venetian Causeway in 2021. Alonso and Hartley pleaded not guilty on May 21. A trial is set for June 30. Attorneys for both Alonso and Hartley did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Herald. This is a developing story and will be updated.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Pistol dueling editors are part of the history of Kentucky's first newspaper
Editor's Note: As Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, the Herald-Leader and each day throughout 2025 will share interesting facts about our hometown. Compiled by Liz Carey, all are notable moments in the city's history — some funny, some sad, others heartbreaking or celebratory, and some just downright strange. Disagreements over articles printed in Kentucky's first newspaper led to two deadly fights, leaving one editor and a civilian dead. When Lexington was founded 250 years ago, settlers decided they needed a newspaper to keep the 300 people in the area informed. Two of the settlers, John and Fielding Bradford, offered to return east to learn the craft and gather supplies for a press. When they returned, they started the Kentucke Gazette, the first newspaper west of the Allegheny Mountains. The paper's main goal was to provide opinions on state politics and global issues to the American frontier community. Over the years, the name changed to the Kentucky Gazette and the publication grew from two pages to six pages a week. Its goal of providing community members with opinions and news remained. In 1827, Thomas Roberts Benning came to Lexington to serve as the editor of the Kentucky Gazette, after working as the editor of the Paris Register in Bourbon County. After Andrew Jackson was elected president, Benning turned his attention to matters at home — farming, education and abolition. Some didn't take too kindly to the opinions he printed in the paper. In 1829, Charles Wickliffe, the 21-year-old son of one of the area's largest slaveholders, Robert Wickliffe, was infuriated by an editorial that painted his father in a bad light. Wickliffe went to the Gazette office to talk to the writer of the editorial. When he saw Benning, an altercation ensued. Benning tried to beat Wickliffe off him with a small stick, but Wickliffe pulled out a pistol. Grabbing Benning's stick and throwing it on the floor, Wickliffe then shot Benning as he was trying to flee through the office's back door. 'Wickliffe then pulled out another pistol and maintained his stand for a moment in an attitude of menace, in Benning's office, and finally pulled out a third pistol and stood some time in front of the office threatening to shoot again,' the Gazette wrote about the incident. 'Mr. Benning did not fall when he received the wound but was soon carried from his office to his residence, and had his wound examined … the ball (had) gone through the intestines and lodged in the walls of the belly in the front and to one side. He lived in extreme agony about twenty-four hours and then died,' the Gazette wrote. Wickliffe was charged with murder, but his defense attorney — one Henry Clay — was able to get him acquitted before a mostly pro-slavery jury sympathetic to the Wickliffe family. Later that same year, a successor to the editor position was named, Wickliffe's best friend James George Trotter. A few months later, Wickliffe again found fault with something written in the paper. According to an account of the duel by J. Winston Coleman, Wickliffe was upset by 'some remarks made in the paper in relation to the death of Benning. This editorial insinuated that young Wickliffe had cowardly murdered the former editor of the Gazette without the latter having a chance to defend himself and hinted strongly at a 'packed and perjured jury' and the undue influence of Henry Clay as senior counsel for the accused.' As a result, Wickliffe challenged Trotter to a duel. On Oct. 9, 1829, the two men met at the Fayette County and Scott County line. The men fired and both missed their mark, with Trotter's ball passing through Wickliffe's pants. Wickliffe immediately demanded a second shot, to which Trotter agreed. After reloading and taking their positions for a second time, Trotter and Wickliffe fired at each other again. This time, Trotter's bullet found its mark. Lowering himself to the ground, Wickliffe was examined and found to be mortally wounded. After being rushed to his father's house at the corner of Jefferson and Second streets, Wickliffe died about three hours later. An inquiry into the duel found that it had been conducted properly and Trotter returned to his position as editor of the Gazette. Although many friends of Wickliffe attacked him, Trotter only answered them in the columns of his paper, writing 'I abhor dueling. I abhor fighting in every shape and form; but I can say to the whole host of scoundrels who … put themselves behind the breastwork of villainy and rascality, that whenever they are disposed to experiment upon my cowardice, they can be accommodated.' It wasn't the last duel for Trotter. According to the Kentucky State Historical Society, 'Trotter seems to have been a ready and willing man of war with the pistol, as well as with the quill, when occasion demanded. We hear of him again in 1833, engaging in a personal encounter with George D. Prentice, editor of the Louisville Journal, upon the streets of Louisville.' The Trotter-Wickliffe duel went down in Kentucky history. Wickliffe, the hot-head who went after newspaper editors was dead. Trotter, after a few more years as the Gazette's editor, was admitted to and died in an asylum 20 years later. Have a question or story idea related to Lexington's 250-year history? Let us know at 250LexKy@
Yahoo
a day ago
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How Lexington's first food bank was founded and continues to help across KY today
Editor's Note: As Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, the Herald-Leader and each day throughout 2025 will share interesting facts about our hometown. Compiled by Liz Carey, all are notable moments in the city's history — some funny, some sad, others heartbreaking or celebratory, and some just downright strange. Mim Hunt, Lexington's first food bank founder, couldn't escape her calling to help others. Mildred 'Mim' Salmon Lunsford Hunt spent her life helping people in Lexington and beyond. Although at one point she vowed to leave 'the heartbreaking profession of social work,' the desire to help those in need pulled her back in. Born on Feb. 24, 1914, Hunt grew up in Lexington. In the 1940s, Hunt moved to New York City to pursue a career as a child welfare worker. After several years in the city, she moved back to her hometown, vowing to leave social work behind. In the early 1950s, though, that would change. In a 'History of God's Pantry,' Hunt wrote that she realized that Lexington had its own empoverished areas just like New York City. Enlisted to help those in need by Dr. Harriet Marble, Hunt raised money to help Black patients at Eastern State Hospital. Later, she and her husband Robert started a retail space selling health food, gifts and antiques named Mim's. Instead of leaving social work behind her, she started collecting food, clothing and bedding for those in need just blocks away from her and distributing them directly to people. By 1955, her basement had become the first organized 'food bank' in the city. Soon, neighbors were bringing donations to what they called 'Mim's Pantry' in her Parkers Mill Road home. Hunt was quick to point out it wasn't her pantry. 'I don't fill these shelves,' she said. 'God does. This is God's Pantry.' Thus, God's Pantry Food Bank was born. It remained mobile until the first brick and mortar location opened in 1959. Since then, the pantry has grown to serve 50 counties in Central and Eastern Kentucky, with a dedicated staff committed to helping those experiencing food insecurity. Between July 2023 and June 2024, the food bank served more than 264,000 individuals and distributed nearly 47 million pounds of food with the help of more than 32,000 volunteer hours. The food bank estimates that one in six Kentuckians and one in four children in Central and Eastern Kentucky experienced hunger during that 12-month period. Hunt, who died in 2005, said she was called to make a difference. 'I have never felt that life was a popularity contest and as I read my bible's marching orders 'to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and give a cup of cold water to the thirsty,' I listened to my own drumbeat and with God's help — forged ahead!' she wrote on the pantry's 40th anniversary. 'I truly believe that one day someone will be celebrating a 100th anniversary if we continue to have faith!' Have a question or story idea related to Lexington's 250-year history? Let us know at 250LexKy@
