‘Que Pasa USA?' Our Republicans in Congress forgot the value of PBS in Miami

Miami Herald

23-07-2025

Grouch party
Millions of children, many the sons and daughters of immigrants, began learning English via all the wonderful Sesame Street characters. Then at night their parents, abuelos and 'los americanitos' laughed together at the bilingual craziness in 'Que Pasa, USA.'
And who can forget listening to 'Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!' Thank you PBS and thank you NPR.
Meanwhile, our three Republican Grouches — U.S. Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar, Mario Díaz-Balart and Carlos Giménez — have deemed these classic American family programs on PBS and NPR as 'wasteful' far left propaganda worthy of President Trump's massive cuts.
Did the Cookie Monster eat their sense of democracy and decency?
While children continue to learn to share, be kind and use their brains thanks to the Muppets, our three Republican cartoonish characters display selfishness, not-so-smart voting and are totally no fun.
No worries. Big Bird and friends are getting ready to cancel their show in November 2026.
Luis A. Hernandez,
Coconut Grove
Emotional theater
Miami Herald reporter Howard Cohen's June 27 story, 'Miami's Olympia theater holds a lifetime of memories for this reporter,' made a point about the importance of not only the physicality of a building such as the 1920s theater and the historical significance it so rightfully conveys, but also the emotional connection such places represent. Places matter on many levels; they are personal. Cohen certainly experienced a lasting connection with the theater and it wasn't all about the physical space.
The Olympia opened on Flagler Street as a silent movie theater in 1926. In the 1970s, its name changed in honor of Maurice Gusman, who donated the property to Miami in 1975. Today, patrons are confused as to the theater's name (is it the Olympia Theater or the Gusman Center or the Olympia-Gusman?)
As Cohen so eloquently observed, there is no confusion as to the memories formed at the theater. He asks, 'do our memories go along with that deal' to give away the theater?
The Olympia theater means so much more than a 100-year old building on Flagler Street with ornate architecture and timeless charm. Preserving history matter, not just in the tangible, but in the intangible. Memories, without a place to anchor them, fade away, relegated only to a Proustian moment. These old places, like the Olympia, are like portals that access the past.
The preservation of space, place and authenticity of the 1920s silent movie palace must be guarded and protected. One must also strive to preserve the collective memories that reside within. This task is priceless.
Karelia Martinez Carbonell,
preservation advocate,
Coral Gables
Changed tunes
Marianne Murciano's July 20 op-ed, 'We were once those immigrants in Miami,' expressed many of my own sentiments.
Why do Cubans in Miami who fled the Castro regime's oppression and communism and were given the right to become U.S. citizens now support the Trump administration's policy to not give refugees — those fleeing dictatorships or violent countries — the same opportunities?
Many of those in the Everglades detention center and other interment camps are not criminals, just hard working people who need a chance to survive.
In my Midwestern hometown, during the Cuban crisis, I never heard any family or friends objecting to Cubans getting the same opportunity.
Lainey Nacron,
Miami
Lethal rail
Thank you to the Miami Herald and WLRN for finally reporting what the state and rail companies refused to admit: the Brightline death toll is 182. That's not a mistake. That's a cover-up.
And it's not just Brightline. When you add fatalities from Tri-Rail and FEC freight, the death toll along Florida's east coast rail corridors exceeds that number. And still, the trains keep coming — faster and more frequent.
I walk or bike across these tracks almost daily. I don't trust the gates, the lights, or the bells. I trust my eyes. And even that's not always enough. Florida's rail corridors are a tragedy waiting to happen — again.
We now have three rail systems — Brightline, FEC freight and Tri-Rail, which runs on separate tracks — running through modern neighborhoods. There is no elevation, no fencing, no overpasses and often no warnings, thanks to 'quiet zones.' It's an engineering and public safety failure of staggering proportions.
This didn't have to happen. Florida voters once approved a safe, elevated high-speed rail system, but former Gov. Jeb Bush killed it. Instead, we got fast trains on old tracks running through busy towns.
The result is America's deadliest rail corridor, funded in part by taxpayers. This is what happens when political vanity and corporate convenience take precedence over public safety.
Kerry Lutz,
Palm Beach Gardens
Cutting charities
The July 21 front page story, 'With charity cuts looming, Miami-Dade to pay $250,000 a year to this new foundation run by a top Miami official,' raises serious questions about the county's funding priorities.
As a disabled resident who relies on Special Transportation Services (STS), I was disheartened to see the county scrap RFP EVN0001136 — a competitive process that could have modernized and improved paratransit and microtransit for thousands of riders — while quietly steering a guaranteed revenue stream to an unproven nonprofit with limited public transparency and ties to a rodeo.
The A3 Foundation has no apparent track record and its president is a full-time aide to the City of Miami's manager, now earning $80,000 from this charity. Meanwhile, Miami-Dade proposes to cut nearly $40 million in nonprofit grants and eliminate the very staff who help administer them.
County leaders should explain how this happened and why public funds intended for community good are being funneled to a townhouse-based nonprofit with no clear oversight, while critical services for vulnerable populations are being slashed.
Theo Karantsalis,
Miami Springs
Cutting services
The Miami Herald's warning of the downside of proposed property tax cuts is much too neutral, especially for Miami-Dade County. Reducing or eliminating them altogether would be devastating and would do literally nothing to make Miami-Dade more affordable.
Property taxes are a tiny fraction of any homeowner's cost burden (the tax collector offers payment plans). The number of homestead exemptions continues to grow and our low property taxes are a major draw for those considering moving here.
Property taxes pay for county services people expect and have long had, including trash collection, prompt and professional police and fire response, public libraries and a school system which prepares students, not only for college, but also for well-paying jobs in the crafts and trades.
I have lived in central Miami-Dade since 1970. Rather than celebrations of our laughably low property taxes, I hear constant complaints about 'high taxes.'
Without an income tax and with a very low sales tax (with many exemptions and tax-holidays), how else can we pay for the services we need and want?
Nancy Wear,
South Miami
Return a favorite
The July 16 online story by Connie Ogle, 'This Latin American restaurant in an iconic Miami space is now closed for good,' was well written and informative.
With Chica restaurant (formerly Soyka) closing, Mark Soyka should buy it back and reopen his former restaurant. If he did, it would be deluged with former and new diners and be booked solid, with reservations required weeks in advance.
Peter R. Evans,
Miami
Does not compute
If Miami-Dade County public schools are A-rated, why do we have to divert public funds through vouchers to send our students to private schools?
Seems like a waste of taxpayers' money.
Soon our schools will no longer be A-rated, which seems to be the goal of our politicians.
Stewart Merkin,
Miami