Editor's note: Our new Metro columnist, Myriam Marquez, starts today. Her column runs Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. My first English lesson at age 5 came hard and fast in the Land of the Free.
THE KEYS
An autopsy performed Saturday on the body of a woman found floating in shallow water near the Seven Mile Bridge revealed a few clues, but her identity and cause of death remain a mystery.
MIAMI
There were all kinds of buying strategies on display Saturday at the city of Miami's car and surplus equipment auction. In the case of numerous Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors, there was the fix-it-up-quick-and-resell strategy.
SOUTH FLORIDA
Bill Teck's biggest dream was just a cab ride away from his New York City hotel back in 2000. His agent had set up a meeting with New Line Cinema to talk about distributing a movie Teck had made. His startup magazine, Generation ñ, was making money.
PARKING | CITY OF MIAMI
Parking at one of the 10,000 metered spots in Miami? Here's one more tool to beat a meter that's about to expire and save the trouble of scrounging around for loose change -- your cellphone.
Items contributed must be received at least two days in advance at Calendar Desk, The Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Fifth Floor Newsroom, Miami, FL 33132-1693. Or e-mail your items to newscalendar@MiamiHerald.com. No faxes, please. For a complete list of today's events, go to www.MiamiHerald.com.
Gabriela Monterroso -- girl preacher, immigrant, occasional mall rat -- presses hot hands to the man's chest as a chorus of ''amens'' swirl up from the small church congregation around her. Her voice rises into a rocking chant of syllables only she and her God understand, ``osherecabbashet, barishabbashay!''
A Miami-Dade firefighter who served in Iraq was convicted of 16 counts of official misconduct and grand theft Friday for falsifying records and taking more than $7,000 he wasn't entitled to from the county's tuition reimbursement program.
Former Miami-Dade prosecutor George Cholakis pleaded guilty to two counts of reckless driving with injuries on Friday and was sentenced to four years probation.
Former Colombian hostage Marc Gonsalves filed for divorce from his wife Alisa ''Shane'' Gonsalves Thursday in Key West. Gonsalves, a resident of Big Pine Key, was one of three Americans rescued from the jungles of Colombia on July 2 after being held captive for more than five years by FARC guerrillas.
MIAMI MEGAPLAN
The Florida Marlins' bid for a new ballpark hit a temporary courtroom delay Friday, as some expert witnesses could not appear and the judge put off the most significant legal issue still standing.
FLORIDA CITY
FBI agents arrested five corrections officers and eight inmates and civilians early Friday morning in a crackdown on a drug-distribution ring at a Florida City state corrections facility, a spokesman said.
WASTE SERVICES
Fort Lauderdale-based trash hauler Republic Services on Friday rejected a bid from Waste Management's to buy the company and will focus instead on its pending merger with Allied Waste.
The For Your Information column appears in The Miami Herald's Broward section. You'll find classes, clubs, programs for senior citizens and children, and community entertainment events. Items contributed must be received at least two days in advance at Calendar Desk, The Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Fifth Floor Newsroom, Miami, FL 33132-1693. To submit items online, go to MiamiHerald.com, click on Calendar of Events and click Add Events, then follow the prompts or e-mail your items to newscalendar@MiamiHerald.com...
hs Items contributed must be received at least two days in advance at Calendar Desk, The Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Fifth Floor Newsroom, Miami, FL 33132-1693. To submit items online, go to MiamiHerald.com, click on Calendar of Events and click Add Events, then follow the prompts or e-mail your items to newscalendar@MiamiHerald.com. No faxes, please. To search for events throughout South Florida, click on Calendar on the left side of the screen at www.MiamiHerald.com.
DEVELOPMENT
State regulators put the brakes on two developments in far west Miami-Dade County and a plan to invite more residential construction along the Miami River on Friday, saying the city and county skirted their own growth-management rules in approving the projects.
COUNTY COMMISSION
Proposals by Miami-Dade's government reform panel finished their slow death Friday as county commissioners refused to put almost any of them before voters.
MORTGAGES
The Miami-Dade Mortgage Task Force on Friday announced the arrests of 15 people police said were part of a criminal mortgage fraud ring that defrauded several banks of more than $20 million.
FATAL CAR CRASH
Two young brothers badly injured in an accident that killed their mother this week are slowly recovering and lucky to not be paralyzed, their doctor said Friday evening at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
