Miami Beach again pushes for no spring breakers and pushes new campaign to end the party
City officials are ordering heightened police presence, parking garage closures, DUI checkpoints and even potential curfews throughout March as spring breakers flock to the region, according to the Miami Beach website.
The new 'Reality Check' program will also include the implementation of license plate readers and other surveillance technology throughout the month.
'Consistent with last year's spring break, Miami Beach will once again impose tough measures in March to reinforce the message that the city is not interested in being a spring break party destination,' the city's website reads.
The city will also have 'Goodwill Ambassadors' roaming the Entertainment District, wearing pink 'Take Care of Our City' shirts and offering tips on how to 'enjoy the city responsibly.'
This follows the 'Breaking Up with Spring Break' campaign the city launched last year, which aimed to promote peace and safety during spring break after three straight years of violence during the season.
'We set a new standard for spring break in Miami Beach last year,' Mayor Steven Meiner said in a statement this week. 'This year, we're building on that success, ensuring Miami Beach remains a welcoming destination where people can enjoy our world-class beaches, restaurants, and community in a safe family-friendly atmosphere.'
However, the program wasn't popular with everyone. Some business owners were worried about losing money, while others argued the program was an overreaction to Black crowds, the Associated Press reports.
'Everybody loves this idea that they are free from their government intruding on them,' attorney Stephen Hunter Johnson said at the time. 'But amazingly, if the government intrudes on Black people, everyone's fine with it.'
However, Meiner rejected this criticism: 'I have a moral obligation to keep people safe, and right now, it is not safe.'
City officials said fewer arrests were made in 2024 during the 'Breaking Up with Spring Break' program compared to previous years, local outlet WSVN7 reports.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
2 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Family of missing Naperville mom, wife, renews calls for help as search continues
The family of a Naperville woman who has been missing for more than a week has put out a renewed call for help as authorities continue to try to locate her. Olasinmibo 'Sinmi' Abosede, 46, was last seen about 9:20 a.m. on Thursday, July 30, walking away from her home in the 2100 block of Sudbury Street, according to the Naperville Police Department. 'As you can imagine, the last few days have been very challenging for our family. We are struggling to cope with her absence,' Gbenga Abosede, her husband, said at a press conference Friday. 'Sinmi and I have been married for 18 beautiful years and are blessed with four wonderful children who miss their mom dearly.' Authorities have conducted multiple searches throughout the area for Abosede, including a large-scale search Monday through the Springbrook Prairie Forest Preserve. Naperville Police Cmdr. Rick Krakow said Friday that authorities have put out bulletins to police departments nationwide. Other efforts to locate Abosede include conducting multiple canine tracks, drone operations and ground searches. Foul play is not suspected in her disappearance, police said. 'My wife is more than just my partner. She is my best friend and college sweetheart,' Abosede said. 'She's a gem of a woman, and the outpouring of love and support we have received from friends and well wishers is a testament to the impact she has had on so many people.' In a statement put out on social media Thursday by siblings of the missing woman, family members said Abosede was a 'devout and philanthropic Christian.' Abosede's siblings flew out from the United Kingdom to aid in the search for their missing loved one. 'Her absence has created an immense void in our lives,' the statement said. 'We know she is strong, but we also acknowledge that she could be in need of help.' On Tuesday, St. Raphael Catholic Community organized a praying of the rosary for Abosede, who is a parishioner of the church. St. Raphael has also distributed missing person flyers after Sunday masses and has posted missing person information in their narthex gathering space, according to a statement posted by the church on Friday. 'We will continue to lift her up in prayer, and our prayers also go out to her family during this difficult time,' Rev. Christopher Lankford, pastor at St. Raphael Catholic Community, wrote in the statement. Abosede is 5-foot-6 and weighs 190 pounds, according to Naperville police. She is a Black female with black hair and brown eyes. 'She left our home wearing her prescription glasses, a long sleeved black Adidas jacket with white stripes along the arms, gray pants, a dark head scarf and black crocs,' Abosede's husband said. 'It is possible she may have taken her jacket and scarf off.' Police also said Monday that Abosede was carrying a white water bottle and left her cell phone, credit cards and other personal items behind. 'My wife is a strong woman, but I am also worried about her well being and the distress she may be experiencing,' Abosede's husband said. 'We genuinely believe that with your eyes and ears, we can bring her home safely.' Anyone with information about Abosede is asked to call 911 or the Naperville Police Investigations Division at 630-548-1421.
Politico
2 hours ago
- Politico
It's been 60 years since the Voting Rights Act was signed. Will it make it to 61?
ANXIOUS ANNIVERSARY — The Voting Rights Act was signed into law 60 years ago this week. What the law will look like when it reaches its 61st anniversary next year is a big question. The landmark piece of legislation — which helped usher in an era of increased minority representation across American politics — has slowly been chipped away by the Roberts Supreme Court over the last 12 years. And a pair of court battles over the next year could leave the future of the law even more uncertain. These new cases came 'within the Overton window because of what the justices themselves have done to encourage people to think more aggressively as it relates to the Voting Rights Act,' said Wendy Weiser, the vice president for democracy at the liberal advocacy organization the Brennan Center for Justice. 'These are radical changes that would do significant damage to voting rights.' Enforcement of the Voting Rights Act has predominantly come through Section 2 of the law — which broadly prohibits discrimination in election practices on the basis of race, color or membership in a language minority group — after the Supreme Court in 2013 rendered the other major pillar moot. Back then, the court struck down the part of the VRA that determined which jurisdictions had a history of discrimination and needed to get federal permission before changing their voting laws. Section 2 has been used to challenge voting practices — like restrictive registration requirements — that have disproportionately affected minority voters. But one of the biggest ways Section 2 enforcement has played out in practice has been the creation of 'majority-minority' congressional and legislative districts in which minority voters make up enough of the electorate to elect a candidate of their choosing. There are dozens of such districts across the country that are drawn to explicitly be majority Black, Latino or Asian — a practice the Supreme Court is now scrutinizing. The first case starts in Louisiana, where a majority Black district that sprawled across the state was challenged by a group of self-identified non-Black voters as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The court initially heard arguments appealing that case in March. But earlier this summer, the Supreme Court took the unusual step of announcing it will rehear the case. In a short order issued last week, the justices called for parties to be prepared to argue whether the 'intentional creation of a second majority-minority congressional district violates the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.' The question posed by the court does not explicitly mention either the Voting Rights Act or Section 2. But the implication is fairly straightforward, according to UCLA law professor Rick Hasen: The court's conservative jurists could find that the Reconstruction era amendments — which were passed initially to protect newly-freed slaves — demand a 'colorblind' reading of the inherently race-conscious Voting Rights Act, and either strike it down or significantly limit its scope. The court could find that 'the 14th and 15th Amendments should be read not as providing a way for Congress to protect Blacks and other minorities from discrimination in voting and elsewhere, but instead that it's a command that everything be race neutral,' Hasen, who has been critical of the court's erosion of the VRA, told Nightly. 'A kind of race neutral reading of the Constitution would potentially read out Congress's power to enact race conscious remedies to protect minority voters.' Merely asking the question does not guarantee the court will scrap the practice of drawing majority-minority districts — Chief Justice John Roberts, who has generally looked to roll back the VRA over his career, was the surprise author of a majority opinion in 2023 that upheld a key provision. But at least one conservative justice has written recently that the law should be gutted, with Clarence Thomas writing in June that the court's previous rulings have placed 'the VRA in direct conflict with the Constitution.' The VRA has acted as a restraint in this hyper-partisan era of redistricting, particularly after the Supreme Court ruled in 2019 federal courts couldn't police so-called partisan gerrymandering. A universe without VRA-protected districts would allow mapmakers of all political persuasions to further push the bounds of remapping. Beyond the Louisiana case, another significant challenge to Section 2 is making its way through the federal judiciary. The vast majority of Section 2 litigation has been initiated by private parties, such as individual citizens or civil rights groups. But in a case out of North Dakota, the conservative 8th Circuit ruled that a 'private right of action' does not exist and that only the federal government can bring these cases. That, in effect, would eliminate most of the enforcement of the VRA and leave the remaining trickle up to the whims of whatever administration is in the White House — particularly under the Trump administration, which has totally overhauled the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. That ruling was stayed by the Supreme Court last month as an appeal is crafted. But that was over the objection of three of the conservative justices — Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch. The North Dakota case does not present as direct an attack on Section 2 as the one from Louisiana. But a ruling that kills the right for private parties to sue would render the VRA effectively moot, Hasen said. 'While a ruling that private parties couldn't sue wouldn't look like a death knell, when you've got most cases — the lion's share — being brought by private parties, and you have a Trump Department of Justice that has not and does not appear to be interested in bringing any additional Section 2 lawsuits,' he said, 'it would essentially be rendering Section 2 a dead letter.' Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@ Or contact tonight's author at zmontellaro@ or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @ZachMontellaro. What'd I Miss? — Billy Long out as IRS commissioner: President Donald Trump plans to remove Billy Long as commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, a White House official said today. Long was sworn in less than two months ago to lead the tax agency. The former Missouri lawmaker had previously sponsored legislation to eradicate the IRS. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will serve as the agency's acting commissioner, the White House official — who was granted anonymity to discuss personnel moves — said. — Trump to consider Fannie and Freddie public offerings this year: President Donald Trump is considering selling stock in mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac later this year, a senior administration official said today. 'The president is weighing all his options,' said the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss plans that have not yet been finalized. The details of a potential public offering, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, would value the two companies at around $500 billion and involve selling 5 percent to 15 percent of their stock. However, there is still debate surrounding whether the entities would go through the initial public offering process separately or together. — U.S. attorney's office subpoenas New York AG Letitia James: The U.S. attorney's office in Albany has issued two subpoenas to New York Attorney General Letitia James stemming from a pair of politically charged civil cases against President Donald Trump and the National Rifle Association, according to a person familiar with the matter. The subpoenas are an escalation of the Trump administration's scrutiny of James, who has positioned herself as a ferocious opponent of the president. The Department of Justice earlier this year opened a separate investigation into mortgage fraud allegations against James, which she has denied. — Appeals court panel quashes Judge Boasberg's contempt proceedings over Alien Enemies Act deportations: A divided federal appeals court panel has thrown out U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's bid to pursue criminal contempt for Trump administration officials he says defied his orders in March by sending 130 Venezuelan men to a prison in El Salvador. The ruling can be appealed further. If it remains in place, it appears to sharply diminish — but not completely rule out — the possibility that lawyers or other officials in the administration could face contempt charges over their conduct during the high-profile deportation showdown. — Trump administration demands $1B from University of California-Los Angeles: The Trump administration is pushing the University of California-Los Angeles to enter a $1 billion settlement that would resolve alleged civil rights violations, restore hundreds of millions of dollars of frozen federal research grants, and force the school to adopt major changes to how it operates. The proposed agreement is certain to be subject to intense negotiations between the University of California and the White House. The administration's opening demand marks a major effort to expand the scope of a monthslong political and policy offensive against higher education institutions — this time against a flagship campus at one of the country's largest public university systems. AROUND THE WORLD LONDON CALLING — Keir Starmer today led international condemnation of Israel over a major military escalation in the Gaza Strip in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to take over Gaza City. Germany suspended arms exports to Israel that could be used in Gaza, Spain 'strongly' condemned the stepped-up Israeli offensive, and the United Nations called for an immediate halt to the Israeli operation. 'The Israeli government's decision to further escalate its offensive in Gaza is wrong, and we urge it to reconsider immediately,' the British prime minister said in a statement early today. 'This action will do nothing to bring an end to this conflict or to help secure the release of the hostages. It will only bring more bloodshed,' he said. Britain and its allies are working on a long-term plan to secure peace in the region as part of a two-state solution, but 'without both sides engaging in good faith in negotiations, that prospect is vanishing before our eyes,' the U.K. leader said. Turkey also lambasted Netanyahu's decision, which was approved by Israel's security cabinet early today. Ankara called on Israel to stop its plans. CIVILIANS OUT — Ukraine is evacuating hundreds of people from Korabel, an island district of Kherson city in southern Ukraine, after Russia last week severely damaged the only bridge connecting the suburb with the rest of the city. 'There are still about 600 people left out of 1,800 who were living there before the strike. At least 200 will be evacuated today. And Russians continue to attack the bridge and the area during evacuation,' Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, deputy head of the Kherson regional administration, said today. The few people left in Korabel have no gas, no electricity, no shops and no public transportation. The bridge attack prompted fears that Russians are planning to retake Kherson. Russia seized the city of 300,000 in the early days of its full-scale attack on Ukraine in 2022, but was driven out later that year. Nightly Number RADAR SWEEP HOMEWARD BOUND — Clint Smith's family was one of the first let back into their Gentilly, New Orleans home after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in October 2005. And when he stepped foot back into the neighborhood as a teenager, he saw the extent of the devastation — and also the continued character of the neighborhood. Over the years following, Katrina became more than just a storm for his neighbors — it became a reference point and a 'before/after' moment for those who survived. Twenty years later Smith, now an essayist, reflects on what it meant to return home, and the concept of home after disaster, for The Atlantic. Parting Image Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.
Boston Globe
3 hours ago
- Boston Globe
‘He casts a wide swath.' Sheriff Steven Tompkins has long loomed large in Boston, Democratic political circles
Advertisement Tompkins' indictment, and subsequent arrest Friday in Florida, quickly sent reverberations through Boston and Massachusetts' Democratic circles, where Tompkins has been a longtime fixture and one of its most prominent Black elected officials. 'He casts a wide swath,' said Joyce Ferriabough Bolling, a longtime Boston political strategist. 'There was a time when people would hope he would helm the Democratic Party. . . . He's not political from the standpoint of a governor or a mayor. But he has his own kind of fiefdom [of public safety officials of color], in which he really stands at the top.' It's in part why Ferriabough Bolling said she was 'pretty much shocked' by the indictment, which charged that Tompkins — a one-time Advertisement 'This just doesn't sound like him,' she said of the allegations. 'Something's not right.' Tompkins, now nearly 12 years into his tenure, began his rise in the sheriff's office, serving as its chief communicator and marketer before then-governor Deval Patrick tapped him to lead it in 2013. At his swearing-in ceremony, Tompkins said he grew up on public assistance in a single-parent household in public housing in Harlem, recounting going through the 'school of hard knocks' and pointing to his own backgroundwhen talking to young people about staying out of trouble. His appointment almost immediately took on political shades, tapped as he was to replace his own boss and longtime friend, Andrea Cabral, whom Patrick simultaneously named the state's secretary of public safety. A year earlier, Tompkins was also an adviser to Warren's first US Senate campaign. (Aides to Warren did not respond to requests for comment Friday.) 'By the way, it's a political job,' Patrick Eight years later, on an episode of his podcast in which Cabral was a guest, Tompkins described the ceremony as 'one of the best days of my life.' 'What a terrific day to be standing next to my best friend on the planet and being sworn into these offices of importance and offices that really do have an effect on other people's lives,' Tompkins said. Advertisement The indictment of Tompkins unsealed Friday morning does not name the cannabis company he is charged with extorting, but a person familiar with the matter confirmed to the Globe that it's Ascend Mass, a company once run by Cabral and co-founded by Frank Perullo, a longtime political consultant whose old firm worked for Tompkins's campaign from 2013 to 2015. Efforts to reach Cabral or Perullo were not successful Friday. Tompkins has faced accusations before of leveraging his office for personal benefit. In 2015, he agreed to pay a $2,500 fine after he walked into several shops in Boston's Egleston Square in August 2013, identified himself as sheriff, and flashing his identification before 'I've learned from the experience, and I've moved on,' he told the Globe in 2015. 'It won't happen again.' A year later, Tompkins ran, then suspended, only to then reactivate his bid Two years ago, Tompkins again All the while, Tompkins has stood as a major figure in Boston. His list of endorsements in his last race reads like a who's who of Boston and Massachusetts politicos, including Advertisement Tompkins also built a reputation for embracing innovative ways to help pave paths of re-entry for those in jail. He was credited with creating the sheriff department's Another initiative: 'It's incumbent on us to do these types of things and not just say to people when they leave jail, 'good luck, hope you don't come back,'' Tompkins told the Globe at the time. In his 2021 podcast episode with Cabral, which was recorded in August 2021 and But he signed off wishing Cabral well, saying he hoped she enjoys her new position, and 'make[s] lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of friends.' 'And money!' he added. Sean Cotter and Samantha J. Gross of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Matt Stout can be reached at
